Adaptive parallel applications: from shared memory architectures to fog computing (2002-2022)

The evolution of parallel architectures points to dynamic environments where the number of available resources or configurations may vary during the execution of applications. This can be easily observed in grids and clouds, but can also be explored in clusters and multiprocessor architectures. Over more than two decades, several research initiatives have explored this characteristic by parallel applications, enabling the development of adaptive applications that can reconfigure the number of processes/threads and their allocation to processors to cope with varying workloads and changes in the availability of resources in the system. Despite the long history of development of solutions for adaptability for parallel architectures, there is no literature reviewing these efforts. In this context, the goal of this paper is to present the state of-the-art on adaptability from resource and application perspectives, ranging from shared memory architectures, clusters, and grids, to virtualized resources in cloud and fog computing in the last twenty years (2002-2022). A comprehensive analysis of the leading research initiatives in the field of adaptive parallel applications can provide the reader with an understanding of the essential concepts of development in this area.