Open Computing Language (OpenCL), initially developed by Apple Inc., is an open technology standard for programs, which can run on a variety of devices, including CPUs and GPUs that are available on commodity hardware, such as the machine I am using for this recipe. Since 2009, OpenCL has been maintained by the Khronos Compute Working Group. Many hardware vendors, including the one I am partial to, have an implementation of OpenCL.
OpenCL is a language resembling C (actually, there are multiple C dialects or versions) with functions called kernels. Kernels can run in parallel on multiple processing elements. The hardware vendor gives the definition of the processing element. OpenCL programs are compiled at runtime for the purpose of portability.
Portability is the greatest advantage of OpenCL over similar technologies such as CUDA, which is an NVIDIA product. Another advantage is the ability to share work between CPUs, GPUs, and other devices. It...