Interactive Exercises

Practice your HPC optimization skills with hands-on exercises for each module.

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Exercise Philosophy

These exercises are designed to:

1. Reinforce concepts from the learning modules
2. Provide practical experience with optimization techniques
3. Build intuition through trial and error
4. Test your understanding with self-assessment questions

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Exercise Modules

Module	Difficulty	Focus
Module 02: Memory	Beginner	Cache optimization
Module 04: SIMD	Intermediate	Vectorization
Module 05: Concurrency	Advanced	Multithreading

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How to Use These Exercises

Exercise Format

Each exercise includes:

1. Objective - What you will learn
2. Setup - Files and commands needed
3. Tasks - Step-by-step instructions
4. Questions - Self-assessment questions
5. Hints - Optional guidance (try without first!)

Recommended Approach

flowchart LR
    A[Read Objective] --> B[Attempt Task]
    B --> C{Stuck?}
    C -->|Yes| D[Check Hint]
    C -->|No| E[Complete Task]
    D --> B
    E --> F[Answer Questions]
    F --> G[Check Solution]

1. Try first - Attempt the exercise before looking at hints
2. Experiment - Modify parameters and observe results
3. Measure - Always verify with benchmarks
4. Understand - Ask "why does this work?"

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Solution Format

Solutions are provided in solutions.md, but we encourage you to:

1. Attempt each exercise independently
2. Use hints if you get stuck
3. Only check solutions after completing the exercise
4. Understand why the solution works

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Environment Setup

Prerequisites

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/LessUp/cpp-high-performance-guide.git
cd cpp-high-performance-guide

# Build the project
cmake --preset=release
cmake --build build/release

# Run tests to verify setup
ctest --preset=release

Required Tools

• Compiler: GCC 11+ or Clang 14+
• CMake: 3.20+
• perf: For profiling exercises (Linux)
• ThreadSanitizer: For concurrency exercises

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Progress Tracking

Track your progress through each module:

Module	Completed	Notes
01. CMake	☐
02. Memory	☐
03. Modern C++	☐
04. SIMD	☐
05. Concurrency	☐

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Getting Help

If you're stuck:

1. Review the relevant module README
2. Check the FAQ
3. Look at the Troubleshooting Guide
4. Open a Discussion

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Next Steps

Choose a module and start practicing:

• New to the project? Start with Module 02: Memory
• Want immediate results? Try the memory exercises above
• Ready for advanced topics? Jump to Module 05: Concurrency