Final answer:
Coarse-grained and fine-grained parallelism refer to different levels of synchronization among processes in parallel computing.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the context of computers and technology, coarse and fine-grained parallelism refer to different levels of multithreading or parallel processing. Coarse-grained parallelism involves synchronization among processes at a high level, where larger tasks or computations are divided into smaller units that can be executed in parallel. On the other hand, fine-grained parallelism involves synchronization at a more granular level, with smaller units of work being executed concurrently.
For example, in a parallel program with coarse-grained parallelism, multiple processes may work together on a common task, but the synchronization points occur at a high level, such as when the entire task is completed. In contrast, in a program with fine-grained parallelism, processes may synchronize more frequently at smaller checkpoints or stages throughout the execution.
As a result, coarse-grained parallelism can provide higher-level synchronization among processes, but it may also introduce more overhead due to the need for coordination and communication between processes. Fine-grained parallelism can offer better utilization of resources and potentially higher performance, but it can also introduce more complexity and the possibility of data dependencies and race conditions.