FIT3143 replaces FIT4001, in the BCS and BSE curriculum. FIT3143 is an Elective unit for the BSE degree. This unit comprises mostly content used in FIT4001, but the focus of the unit has been adjusted to make it more suitable for students enrolled in a scientific computing major, and as an elective for science and engineering students.

04 May 2010 - FIT3143 was introduced as part of the 2010 BSE and BCS review, to replace FIT4001 which was optimised for different prerequisites.

28/05/2014 - Objectives changed to learning outcomes for AQF compliance.

1 October 2014: Assessment change: FIT3143 presently had Examination (3 hours): 50%; In-semester assessment: 50%. Considering the forthcoming FIT5139, also has Examination (3 hours) but for 60% exam (and In-semester assessment: 40%). The exam duration for FIT3143 is proposed to be changed from 3-hr to 2-hr duration so as to maintain fairness with respect to the new unit

The change is required before the unit guide finalisation for 1st Semester 2015.

Sept 2015: General update as part of course architecture degree restructures. Effective 2016.

12/06/2017: Admin - updating location of offering to reflect actual campus offerings at the ADE's request.

28/06/2017: Admin - Adding Reasons for Change. Updating exam hours from 3 to 1.5 hours as required by new University Examination procedures, effective S1 2018.

21/07/2017: Admin - Adding Reasons for Change. UGPC rejected the change to a 1.5 hour exam and following discussions with the UGPC Chair, the CE has amended the assessment to 2 hour exam with 30 minutes reading and noting time.

29/06/2018: Admin - amendment to Assessment removing the 30 minutes reading and noting time and reverting to the standard 10 minutes reading and noting time, as per FEC Email Meeting 1/18.

20/9/2019: Admin - updating exam duration to include additional 10 minutes as per University requirement.

29/5/2020-01/06/2020: Update the unit objectives, synopsis, faculty contact info and research aspect. Major changes to the unit objectives to better reflect the learning outcomes with the in-semester assessments.

02/10/2020 Admin: Update to include new assessment and teaching approach fields as per Handbook requirements.

30/06/2021: Admin - CE changed:

1. Revise the second and fifth unit learning outcomes to better suit the scope of the first assignment
2. To update the unit synopsis to include algorithms as an examinable component
3. To remove quizzes from the assessment

From 2016, this unit is core in the Bachelor of Computer Science.

This unit is an elective unit for Bachelor of Software Engineering (BSE) and introduces parallel architecture and programming. It is available for Bachelor of Computer Science (BCompSci) and Bachelor of Science (BSc). The unit draws on material from the previous unit FIT4001, and CSE3324.

Parallel systems are in common use today and the adoption of parallel multi-core and grid-based systems is increasing. This unit gives a firm grounding in the types of hardware, the paradigms for programming, the tools and the algorithms used to support such systems. Thus an understanding of the power and limitations of these systems is gained with experience in how to program them.

At the completion of this unit, students should be able to:

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Modern computer systems contain parallelism in both hardware and software. This unit covers parallelism in both general purpose and application specific computer architectures and the programming paradigms that allow parallelism to be exploited in software. The unit examines shared memory and message passing paradigms in hardware and software; concurrency, multithreading and synchronicity; parallel, clustered and distributed supercomputing algorithms, languages and software tools and development environments. Students will learn to design and develop parallel algorithms in these paradigms, and apply technical writing and presentation to communicate parallel computing.

Technological requirements

Portable personal computer and access to a broadband Internet connection. Lab computers are also available to use during timetabled hours.

On-campus

Lecture, tutorials and labs. An integrated approach to teaching and learning enables material provided in lectures to be influenced by the performance of students in tutorials and laboratory sessions.

Examination (2 hours and 10 minutes): 50%; In-semester assessment: 50%

1. Assignment 1: 15%, ULO: 2, 5
2. Assignment 2: 25%, ULO: 3, 4, 5
3. Labs: 10%, ULO 3, 4
4. Final Exam: 50%, ULO: 1, 2, 3, 4

Minimum total expected workload equals 12 hours per week comprising:

(a.) Contact hours for on-campus students:

(b.) Additional requirements (all students):

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