As the work of these groups begins to converge toward the main goal of parallel computing, it becomes necessary to examine the collaborations between these groups. The following article describes one of several of these collaborations. Most computer users are concerned primarily with their applications and only secondarily with the process of computing. The success of a computational tool depends on how well it meets the needs of a class of users who need help with a few specific applications. For example, spreadsheets are so successful because they meet very specific accounting needs, and they meet these needs very well.
Computational tools span the spectrum from being general to specific.
Hardware, operating systems, and most programming languages are general they can be used for any application. Sequential programming tools have been developed over four decades, from very general tools to very specific tools. Rapid transfer of parallel computing technologies suggests that researchers use the pyramid strategy for tool development. Research on specific parallel applications has focused on developing the bridging technologies that facilitate the exploitation of general parallel tools for specific applications. A technology that bridges the general to the specific must deal with these five aspects.