Originally algorithms were designed to process a single item at a time in sequential order. However, modern computer hardware is able to process multiple pieces of data at the same time in parallel. This leads to Parallel and Distributed Computing algorithms for solving more complex problems efficiently. I came across an interesting webpage which gives an Introduction to Parallel & Distributed Algorithms.

Here is a quick run down of a few interesting things that the article covers.

• Parallel Computing - When many calculations are performed simultaneously.
• Distributed Computing - When multiple autonomous computers communicated via a network and interact to achieve common goals.
• Algorithms for solving computational problems via parallel and distributed methods.
• Other related topics: sorting, difficulty of parallelization, etc.

Additional Resources

• Parallel Computing (wikipedia.org)
• Distributed Computing (wikipedia.org)

Read the full article: Introduction to Parallel & Distributed Algorithms (toves.org)