This very simple assignment will show you how to use the virtual machine image we have prepared for you and to set up the environment for your homeworks and submissions. You will need the following:

• The HW0 handout
• The virtual machine image
  • For Intel processors: x86 virtual machine image
  • For Apple Silicon: ARM virtual machine image
• The virtual machine monitor
  • For Windows and Linux users: VMware Workstation 17 Pro
  • For macOS users: VMware Fusion 13 Pro

If you would like to code outside the VM, our SSH guide may be useful.

Please keep in mind that any code you save in the virtual machine will be lost if you delete the VM image itself, unless you check it into your GitHub repository (which we provide; please see the handout for details). You are not required to code in the VM, but please make sure to compile and test your solution in the VM before submitting. The VM will be the official environment for grading all the homework assignments.

This assignment – a simple parallel sorting program – will give you some hands-on experience with concurrency and its impact on application performance, as well as with several basic UNIX primitives. You will need the HW1 handout, as well as some framework code to get to started, as described in the handout. You should continue using the virtual machine image you installed for Homework 0 to test your solution before submission.

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