Supercomputing Course: Introduction

I am a veritable supercomputer fanatic. So teaching a course on how to use them is almost second nature to me!

Learning how to use them for the first time, however, was decidedly not second-nature. I was woefully computer-ignorant for a computer science graduate student, which I blame on my lack of computer science undergraduate degree. (I majored in Physics.) But I was pretty good at hiding my complete lack of knowledge through obfuscation, procrastination, and general inefficiency.

My extremely observant advisor soon figured out that I didn't know the first thing about computers. But he wasn't upset by that fact! He just gave me a miniature course on Unix and the vi editor. And since I am relatively resourceful and intelligent, I paid attention and consequently caught on rather quickly.

So a lack of computer literacy is nothing to be ashamed of! It's the unwillingness to admit to your ignorance that's a problem. But once you recognize that your ignorance is due to a lack of experience rather than incompetence or any deficiency on your part, you are ready to pick up the skills that are necessary for becoming a supercomputer user!

Over the course of the next few weeks, I will erratically publish posts that I have written based on my supercomputing course. I hope that you will follow along and learn about this subject. If at any point you have questions, feel free to leave them in the comments, and I will do my best to answer!