The parallel sorting game is a simple, group activity to show why parallel computers are needed. It’s very hands-on and does not require a computer or other technology to play. Players complete a sorting task in groups of various sizes, and see how the number of objects sorted changes with the size of group.

Resources Required

Set-Up

The Rules

Discussion

What does this have to do with supercomputers?

Supercomputers are used to do calculations that would take a normal computer a very long time to run. For example, supercomputers are used to create weather forecasts, which need to be calculated fast in order to get the results well in the advance of the dates being forecast. Supercomputers are faster because they are much bigger than regular computers - a laptop will have a single processor (where computer programs are executed), a computer like ARCHER2 can have thousands. The work required to solve calculations can then be shared between each processor, and greatly reducing the time taken to get the answer. The processors are able to work together on a problem by communicating over a network - which requires lots of cables! This is known as parallel computing.

If the team playing the sorting game is large for the size of the problem, then they might find it difficult to beat the score of a smaller team. For example, each player might have to wait their turn to pick up a sorting object, and this causes each individual to sort at a slower rate than if they were on their own. Supercomputers are the same - more processors does not mean faster run time, if the calculation is too small, or not well designed for a large parallel system. That is why experts like the ARCHER2 CSE team are needed to help Scientists write code that will run well on a Supercomputer!

Hopefully when playing the parallel sorting game, participants find that that larger teams are able to sort faster than smaller teams and individuals. The sorting can be thought of as the calculation - sorting methods, or algorithms, are common in computing - and each player as a computer processor. By working together on the sort, they are working like a supercomputer, together on the same problem.