In the previous chapter, you were introduced to the ScaLAPACK library, which can be used to solve linear equation systems parallel to the distributed memory architecture. However, as you might have noticed, it is not an easy task to set up all the data structures that are required. First, it was necessary to plan a node grid that can be used for computations, and on this logical grid, calculation data has to be distributed correctly. A lot of experience and knowledge is required to perform such a task. Hence, it is not straightforward to program software that solves linear equations on your BeagleBone Black Cluster.

However, there are better options. In this chapter, we get to know the PETSc and SLEPc libraries, which are highly sophisticated and built upon ScaLAPACK and OpenMPI. With PETSc, it will become much easier to perform calculations such as solving linear, nonlinear, and even differential equation systems. SLEPc itself is a...