Energy Efficient Programming

Efficiency in computer science often refers to the runtime or memory usage, that a certain algorithm needs to produce an output. However, efficiency can also describe the amount of energy, that is consumed by the hardware during the runtime of an algorithm.

This course explains the relevant computer architecture components, as well as different coding techniques, that allow computer scientists to design and program energy efficient algorithms. Participants will learn how intrinsic functions work and how they can be applied to an algorithm to reduce its energy consumption. In addition, the course presents a hands-on approach to measuring energy consumption of programs using the Intel VTune Profiler tool. In contrast to the existing clean-IT courses on openHPI, this course provides a deeper dive into specific, energy efficient, architecture coding techniques.

In response to the growing energy consumption of software programs and digital technologies, energy efficiency is on the rise as a key metric for software development. However, computer scientists and developers often lack concrete, applicable tools, that help reduce an algorithm's energy consumption.

This course is aimed at students, researchers, or developers that work or study in computer science or a related field and want to learn more about energy efficient coding techniques.

In this course, you will learn:

The basic concepts of computer functionality and architecture, such as clock cycles, parallelism, execution pipelines, and superscalar architectures.
How to use coding techniques in C and assembly, to significantly minimize the number of instructions executed by the CPU
About intrinsics and macros, and how you can apply them to any algorithm to increase energy efficiency

The course consists of educational videos, multiple choice tests, and multiple, detailed coding examples. Depending on your prior knowledge and engagement with the coding material, you will spend 5-10 hours per week.

Prequisite knowledge for this course is fundamental programming experience in C, as well as basic knowledge about computer architecture concepts and functionality. Experience with an IDE (preferably Microsoft Visual Studio) is recommended to evaluate the programming examples.

You must achieve at least 50% of the points for a record of achievement. By accessing at least 50% of the resources, you will already receive a confirmation of participation.

Attention: This course is currently in self-study mode, in which you do not have access to graded assignments/exams. Therefore, we can only issue you a certificate of participation.

Unsere Dozent:innen

Prof. Dr. Vesselin Iossifov

Prof. Vesselin Iossifov schloss sein Studium 1977 als Dipl.-Ing. für technische Kybernetik an der TH Ilmenau, Deutschland, ab. 1982 erwarb er außerdem einen Dr.-Ing. in Computer Engineering an derselben Universität, mit Schwerpunkt auf Echtzeit-Betriebssystemen.

1990 erhielt er die Facultas Docendi in Parallel Computer Architectures von der TH Ilmenau und schloss seine Habilitation in Parallel Computer Architectures am Institut für Mathematik und Computerwissenschaften in Sofia, Bulgarien, ab.

Von 1994 bis 2018 arbeitete Iossifov als Professor für Mikrocomputertechnik an der Fachhochschule Berlin, Deutschland. Während der Zeit von 1999 bis 2006 war er als Gastprofessor für Netzwerk-zentrierte Berechnung an den Universitäten Liverpool und Reading im Vereinigten Königreich tätig. Zusätzlich ist er seit 2016 Mitglied des VDE Vorstands Berlin-Brandenburg.

Nils König

Nils König studiert IT-Systems-Engineering im Bachelor am HPI. Er ist seit 2021 als studentische Hilfskraft bei der HPI clean-IT Initiative angestellt.

Neben dem Studium ist er Mitglied und Sprecher des Nachhalitgkeitsklubs und des clean-IT Klubs am HPI. Er hat außerdem an mehreren Kursen auf openHPI mitgearbeitet und diese moderiert, darunter hauptsächlich die im clean-IT Channel.

Energy Efficient Programming

Unsere Dozent:innen

Schau den Teaser zu diesem Online-Kurs