API
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Application Programming Interface. A definition of the functions and semantics provided by library of functions.
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| Initiator
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A process that initiates a message operation.
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| Message
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An application-defined unit of data that is exchanged between processes.
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| Message Operation
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Either a put operation, which writes data, or a get operation, which reads data.
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| Network
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A network provides point-to-point communication between nodes. Internally, a network may provide multiple routes between endpoints (to improve fault tolerance or to improve performance characteristics); however, multiple paths will not be exposed outside of the network.
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| Node
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A node is an endpoint in a network. Nodes provide processing capabilities and memory. A node may provide multiple processors (an SMP node) or it may act as a gateway between networks.
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| Process
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A context of execution. A process defines a virtual memory (VM) context. This context is not shared with other processes. Several threads may share the VM context defined by a process.
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| Target
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A process that is acted upon by a message operation.
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| Thread
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A context of execution that shares a VM context with other threads.
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