This volume reviews, in the context of partial differential equations, algorithm development that has been specifically aimed at computers that exhibit some form of parallelism. Emphasis is on the solution of PDEs because these are typically the problems that generate high computational demands. The authors discuss architectural features of these computers insomuch as they influence algorithm performance, and provide insight into algorithm characteristics that allow effective use of hardware.

Both direct and indirect methods are given for elliptic equations as well as explicit and implicit methods for initial boundary-value problems. The intent is to point out attractive methods as well as areas where this class of computer architecture cannot be fully utilized because of either hardware restrictions or the lack of adequate algorithms.