To get the most out of this book

This book covers a deep topic in a relatively short space. Throughout the text, the reader is expected to be comfortable with the Rust programming language, have access to a Rust compiler and a computer on which to compile, and execute Rust programs. What additional software appears in this book is covered in Chapter 1, Preliminaries – Machine Architecture and Getting Started with Rust, and it is recommended for use but not mandatory. 

The basic premise of this book is as follows—parallel programming is difficult but not impossible. Parallel programming can be done, and done well, when attention is paid to the computing environment and care is put into the validation of the produced program. To that end, each chapter has been written with an eye toward imparting a solid foundation to the reader of the chapter's subject. Once a chapter is digested, the reader will, hopefully, have a solid path into the existing body of literature on that subject. In that, this is a book of beginnings, not ends. 

I strongly encourage the reader to take an active role in reading this book, download the source code, investigate the projects as you read through independent of the book's take, and probe the running programs with the tools available on your operating system. Like anything else, parallel programming ability is a skill that is acquired and honed by practice. 

One final note—allow the process of learning to proceed at its own pace. If one chapter's subject doesn't immediately settle in your mind, that's okay. For me, the process of writing the book was a confluence of flashes of insight and knowledge that unfolded slowly like a flower. I imagine that the process of reading the book will proceed analogously.