Chapter 1. Introduction

The proceeding conversation is a characterization of many discussions I’ve had with engineers over the past couple of years as I’ve attempted to communicate the value of multi-core processors and the tools that enable them. This conversation also serves as motivation for the rest of this chapter.

A software engineer at a print imaging company asked me, “What can customers do with quad-core processors?” At first I grappled with the question thinking to a time where I did not have an answer. “I don’t know,” was my first impulse, but I held that comment to myself. I quickly collected my thoughts and recalled a time when I sought an answer to this very question: