Java How to Program, Early Objects, 11th Edition

1.2 Hardware and Software

Computers can perform calculations and make logical decisions phenomenally faster than human beings can. Many of today’s personal computers can perform billions of calculations in one second—more than a human can perform in a lifetime. Supercomputers are already performing thousands of trillions (quadrillions) of instructions per second! China’s National Research Center of Parallel Computer Engineering & Technology (NRCPC) has developed the Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer can perform over 93 quadrillion calculations per second (93 petaflops)!3 To put that in perspective, the Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer can perform in one second over 12 million calculations for every person on the planet! And supercomputing upper ...