Preparing the software engineer for a modern multi-core world

Parallel and Distributed Computing (PDC) was traditionally viewed as an advanced subject reserved for elective graduate courses. The last decade has seen two areas with rapid growth, whose synergy is demanding new skills for software engineers in a modern multi-core world. The first has been society's increasing demand for software engineering solutions, evident in the integral role that software plays in daily life. Unlike traditional PDC applications in the scientific and engineering domains, modern software applications are interacting directly with millions of users on mainstream laptops, smartphones and tablets. The second trend is that of multi-core processors powering such devices, which is further fueling the potential of software applications. This paper proposes a Modern Parallel Programming Framework that recognizes that successful software engineering in this domain involves a combination of hard skills and soft skills. A course dedicated to this goal is presented and evaluated, incorporating a research-infused, problem-based and active learning approach.