In Situ Visualization for Computational Science: Background and Foundational Topics

This chapter complements the Preface to this book. For more discussion on how to read this book, as well as information on the book itself, its purpose, and topics covered, we refer the reader to the Preface. Instead, this chapter provides background and an overview of foundational topics for in situ visualization for computational science. Section 1 provides a historical perspective of scientific visualization on supercomputers and why computing trends are increasingly mandating in situ processing. Section 2 presents an overview of in situ system types. The chapter concludes with Sect. 3, which highlights leading challenges and solutions for in situ processing. After reading this chapter, a beginner to this field should have sufficient context to read any of the subsequent chapters in this book, in any order.