mpi_bcast

mpi_bcast is a function in the C++ programming language that is used to broadcast a message from one process to all other processes in a parallel computing environment. The function has the following syntax:

int MPI_Bcast(void *buffer, int count, MPI_Datatype datatype, int root, MPI_Comm comm)

• buffer: The starting address of the buffer that contains the data to be broadcasted. It can be any valid memory location.

• count: The number of elements in the buffer to be broadcasted. It is of type int.

• datatype: The datatype of the elements in the buffer. It is of type MPI_Datatype.

• root: The rank of the process that is broadcasting the data. It is of type int.

• comm: The communicator that defines the group of processes involved in the broadcast operation. It is of type MPI_Comm.

The mpi_bcast function works by sending the data from the root process to all other processes in the same communicator. The root process specifies the data to be broadcasted by providing the starting address of the buffer and the number of elements. The datatype of the elements is also specified.

The function is blocking, which means that it will not return until the broadcast operation is completed on all processes. Once the broadcast is finished, the data is available in the buffer on all processes.

The mpi_bcast function is commonly used in parallel computing applications to distribute data efficiently among multiple processes. It allows for efficient communication and synchronization between processes, enabling parallel processing and collaborative computations.