Oracle and Intel seek to build a Java API for SIMD support
The Java Vector API aims to provide a mechanism to write complex vector algorithms in Java Oracle and Intel are developing a Java API to add first-class vector, or SIMD (single instruction, multiple data), support to the platform, which could yield big performance gains. Part of Project Panama, which focuses on interconnecting JVM and native code, the API aims to provide an initial iteration of an incubator module, jdk.incubator.vector, to express vector computations that compile at runtime to optimal hardware instructions on supported CPU architectures. Plans call for support of the Graal compiler. Goals of the project include: Providing a clear and concise API, capable of expressing a wide range of vector computations. Reliable runtime compilation and performance on x64 architectures. Architecture agnosticism. Graceful degradation, in which if a vector computation cannot be fully expressed at runtime as a sequence, either because an x64 architecture d...