Execution Spaces#

Kokkos::Cuda#

Kokkos::Cuda is an ExecutionSpace() type representing execution on a Cuda device. Except in rare instances, it should not be used directly, but instead should be used generically as an execution space. For details, see the documentation on the ExecutionSpace() concept.

Kokkos::HIP#

Kokkos::HIP promoted from Experimental since 4.0 is an ExecutionSpace() type representing execution on a device supported by HIP. Except in rare instances, it should not be used directly, but instead should be used generically as an execution space. For details, see the documentation on the ExecutionSpace() concept.

Kokkos::Experimental::SYCL#

Kokkos::Experimental::SYCL is an ExecutionSpace() type representing execution on a device supported by SYCL.

Kokkos::HPX#

Kokkos::HPX is an ExecutionSpace() type representing execution with the HPX runtime system. Except in rare instances, it should not be used directly, but instead should be used generically as an execution space. For details, see the documentation on the ExecutionSpace() concept.

Kokkos::OpenMP#

Kokkos::OpenMP is an ExecutionSpace() type representing execution with the OpenMP runtime system. Except in rare instances, it should not be used directly, but instead should be used generically as an execution space. For details, see the documentation on the ExecutionSpace() concept.

Kokkos::OpenMPTarget#

Kokkos::OpenMPTarget is an ExecutionSpace() type representing execution using the target offloading feature of the OpenMP runtime system. Except in rare instances, it should not be used directly, but instead should be used generically as an execution space. For details, see the documentation on the ExecutionSpace() concept.

Kokkos::Serial#

Kokkos::Serial is an ExecutionSpace() type representing serial execution the CPU. Except in rare instances, it should not be used directly, but instead should be used generically as an execution space. For details, see the documentation on the ExecutionSpace() concept.

Kokkos::ExecutionSpaceConcept#

The concept of an ExecutionSpace is the fundamental abstraction to represent the “where” and the “how” that execution takes place in Kokkos. Most code that uses Kokkos should be written to the generic concept of an ExecutionSpace rather than any specific instance. This page talks practically about how to use the common features of execution spaces in Kokkos; for a more formal and theoretical treatment, see this document.

Disclaimer: There is nothing new about the term “concept” in C++; anyone who has ever used templates in C++ has used concepts whether they knew it or not. Please do not be confused by the word “concept” itself, which is now more often associated with a shiny new C++20 language feature. Here, “concept” just means “what you’re allowed to do with a type that is a template parameter in certain places”.

Aliases based on configuration#

Kokkos::DefaultExecutionSpace#

Kokkos::DefaultExecutionSpace is an alias of ExecutionSpace() type pointing to an ExecutionSpace based on the current configuration of Kokkos. It is set to the highest available in the hierarchy device,host-parallel,host-serial. It also serves as default for optionally specified template prameters of ExecutionSpace() type.

Kokkos::DefaultHostExecutionSpace#

Kokkos::DefaultHostExecutionSpace is an alias of ExecutionSpace() type pointing to an ExecutionSpace based on the current configuration of Kokkos. It is set to the highest available in the hierarchy host-parallel,host-serial.

Very Simplest Use: Not at all?#

When first starting to use Kokkos, the (surprising) answer to where you’ll see ExecutionSpace() s used explicitly is “nowhere”. Many of the first things most users learn are “shortcuts” for “do this thing using the default execution space”, which is a type alias (a.k.a., typedef) named Kokkos::DefaultExecutionSpace defined based on build system flags. For instance,

Kokkos::parallel_for(
    42,
    KOKKOS_LAMBDA (int n) { /* ... */ }
);

is a “shortcut” for

Kokkos::parallel_for(
    Kokkos::RangePolicy<Kokkos::DefaultExecutionSpace>(
        Kokkos::DefaultExecutionSpace(), 0, 42
    ),
    KOKKOS_LAMBDA(int n) { /* ... */ }
);

Being more generic#

For more intermediate and advanced users, however, it is often good practice to write code that is explicitly generic over the execution space, so that calling code can pass in a non-default execution space if needed. For instance, if the simple version of your function is

void my_function(Kokkos::View<double*> data, double scale) {
    Kokkos::parallel_for(
        data.extent(0),
        KOKKOS_LAMBDA (int n) {
            data(n) *= scale;
        }
    );
}

then a more advanced, more flexible version of your function might look like:

template <class ExecSpace, class ViewType>
void my_function(
ExecSpace ex,
ViewType data,
double scale
) {
static_assert(
    Kokkos::SpaceAccessibility<ExecSpace, typename ViewType::memory_space>::assignable,
    "Incompatible ViewType and ExecutionSpace"
);
Kokkos::parallel_for(
    Kokkos::RangePolicy<ExecSpace>(ex, 0, data.extent(0)),
    KOKKOS_LAMBDA (int n) {
    data(n) *= scale;
    }
);
}

More advanced users may also prefer the more explicit form simply to avoid the additional mental exercise of translating “shortcuts” when reading the code later. Being explicit about where and how Kokkos parallel patterns are executing tends to reduce bugs, even if it is more verbose.

Functionality#

All ExecutionSpace types expose a common set of functionality. In generic code that uses Kokkos (which is pretty much all user code), you should never use any part of an execution space type that isn’t common to all execution space types (otherwise, you risk losing portability of your code). There are a few expressions guaranteed to be valid for any ExecutionSpace type. Given a type Ex that is an ExecutionSpace type, and an instance of that type ex, Kokkos guarantees the following expressions will provide the specified functionality:

ex.name();

Returns: a value convertible to const char* that is guaranteed to be unique to a given ExecutionSpace instance type. Note: the pointer returned by this function may not be accessible from the ExecutionSpace itself (for instance, on a device); use with caution.

ex.in_parallel();

Returns: a value convertible to bool indicating whether or not the caller is executing as part of a Kokkos parallel pattern. Note: as currently implemented, there is no guarantee that true means the caller is necessarily executing as part of a pattern on the particular instance ex; just some instance of Ex. This may be strengthened in the future.

ex.fence();

Effects: Upon return, all parallel patterns executed on the instance ex are guaranteed to have completed, and their effects are guaranteed visible to the calling thread. Returns: Nothing. Note: This cannot be called from within a parallel pattern. Doing so will lead to unspecified effects (i.e., it might work, but only for some execution spaces, so be extra careful not to do it).

ex.print_configuration(ostr);
ex.print_configuration(ostr, detail);

where ostr is a std::ostream (like std::cout, for instance) and detail is a boolean indicating whether a detailed description should be printed.

Effects: Outputs the configuration of ex to the given std::ostream. Returns: Nothing. Note: This cannot be called from within a parallel pattern.

Additionally, the following type aliases (a.k.a. typedef s) will be defined by all execution space types:

  • Ex::memory_space: the default MemorySpace() to use when executing with Ex. Kokkos guarantees that Kokkos::SpaceAccessibility<Ex, Ex::memory_space>::accessible will be true (see Kokkos::SpaceAccessibility())

  • Ex::array_layout: the default ArrayLayout recommended for use with View types accessed from Ex.

  • Ex::scratch_memory_space: the ScratchMemorySpace that parallel patterns will use for allocation of scratch memory (for instance, as requested by a Kokkos::TeamPolicy()).

Default Constructibility, Copy Constructibility#

In addition to the above functionality, all ExecutionSpace types in Kokkos are default constructible (you can construct them as Ex ex()) and copy constructible (you can construct them as Ex ex2(ex1)). All default constructible instances of an ExecutionSpace type are guaranteed to have equivalent behavior, and all copy constructed instances are guaranteed to have equivalent behavior to the instance they were copied from.

Detection#

Kokkos provides the convenience type trait Kokkos::is_execution_space<T> which has a value compile-time accessible value (usable as Kokkos::is_execution_space<T>::value) that is true if and only if a type T meets the requirements of the ExecutionSpace concept. Any ExecutionSpace type T will also have the expression Kokkos::is_space<T>::value evaluate to true as a compile-time constant.

Synopsis#

// This is not an actual class, it just describes the concept in shorthand
class ExecutionSpaceConcept {
public:
    typedef ExecutionSpaceConcept execution_space;
    typedef ... memory_space;
    typedef Device<execution_space, memory_space> device_type;
    typedef ... scratch_memory_space;
    typedef ... array_layout;

    ExecutionSpaceConcept();
    ExecutionSpaceConcept(const ExecutionSpaceConcept& src);

    const char* name() const;
    void print_configuration(std::ostream ostr&) const;
    void print_configuration(std::ostream ostr&, bool details) const;

    bool in_parallel() const;
    int concurrency() const;

    void fence() const;

    friend bool operator==(const execution_space& lhs, const execution_space& rhs);
};

template<class MS>
struct is_execution_space {
enum { value = false };
};

template<>
struct is_execution_space<ExecutionSpaceConcept> {
enum { value = true };
};

Typedefs#

  • execution_space: The self type;

  • memory_space: The default MemorySpace() to use when executing with ExecutionSpaceConcept(). Kokkos guarantees that Kokkos::SpaceAccessibility<Ex, Ex::memory_space>::accessible will be true (see Kokkos::SpaceAccessibility())

  • device_type: DeviceType<execution_space,memory_space>.

  • array_layout: The default ArrayLayout recommended for use with View types accessed from ExecutionSpaceConcept().

  • scratch_memory_space: The ScratchMemorySpace that parallel patterns will use for allocation of scratch memory (for instance, as requested by a Kokkos::TeamPolicy())

Constructors#

  • ExecutionSpaceConcept(): Default constructor.

  • ExecutionSpaceConcept(const ExecutionSpaceConcept& src): Copy constructor.

Functions#

  • const char* name() const;: Returns the label of the execution space instance.

  • bool in_parallel() const;: Returns a value convertible to bool indicating whether the caller is executing as part of a Kokkos parallel pattern. Note: as currently implemented, there is no guarantee that true means the caller is necessarily executing as part of a pattern on the particular instance ExecutionSpaceConcept(); just some instance of ExecutionSpaceConcept(). This may be strengthened in the future.

  • int concurrency() const; Returns the maximum amount of concurrently executing work items in a parallel setting, i.e. the maximum number of threads utilized by an execution space instance.

  • void fence() const; Effects: Upon return, all parallel patterns executed on the instance ExecutionSpaceConcept() are guaranteed to have completed, and their effects are guaranteed visible to the calling thread. Note: This cannot be called from within a parallel pattern. Doing so will lead to unspecified effects (i.e., it might work, but only for some execution spaces, so be extra careful not to do it).

  • void print_configuration(std::ostream ostr) const;: Effects: Outputs the configuration of ex to the given std::ostream. Note: This cannot be called from within a parallel pattern.

Non Member Facilities#

  • template<class MS> struct is_execution_space;: typetrait to check whether a class is a execution space.

  • template<class S1, class S2> struct SpaceAccessibility;: typetraits to check whether two spaces are compatible (assignable, deep_copy-able, accessable). (see Kokkos::SpaceAccessibility())

  • bool operator==(const execution_space& lhs, const execution_space& rhs): tests whether the two space instances (of the same type) are identical.