C++ AMP (Accelerated Massive Parallelism) is a small set of open specification language extensions (two of them) and a single library (amp.h) that makes general purpose GPU programming (aka GPGPU) a first class, seamless experience in modern C++.

You've been able to experiment with C++ AMP since the VS11 Developer Preview back in September 2011. We figured it was a good time to go C9 on the C++ AMP team. So, we did. Four interviews have been conducted that pretty thoroughly cover C++ AMP and the people who design, implement, and test it. C++ AMP is a great technology for native developers seeking to harness the power of the GPU using the language and tools they are already comfortable with. C++ AMP is also an open specification and we'll see other compiler vendors producing C++ AMP implementations for their target platforms soon—that's been the goal since Day 1.

Continuing with our four part series, we meet one of the architects of C++ AMP, Yossi Levanoni. You've met him before on C9. In this conversation, we go deeper into the design of C++ AMP (including exploring what led to some of the design decisions) and, of course, Yossi draws diagrams on the whiteboard like all architects must! You'll learn quite a bit about how C++ AMP works and why. Thanks for spending time with us, Yossi, and I'm sorry for mangling your last name!


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