This unique description of the Itanium-based application architecture helps the software development community to use the power of Intel's new line of Itanium processors. The book provides: Knowledge that helps developers understand how to create high-performance software by tapping the unique features of the architecture and corresponding compilers. Clear explanation of how the massively parallel Itanium architecture meets demand for increased throughput by Internet-based applications and e-commerce. Highlights of unique concepts that help the reader to understand how Itanium architecture differs from traditional architectures. Descriptions of salient features of the Itanium processor's application software architecture. This is the starter book for your collection on the new architecture. The target audience is a broad mixture of application developers who are creating new Itanium-based applications or are porting current applications to the new architecture. It is also a valuable resource for developers of firmware, system software, or operating systems. For those who want to know what's happening inside but don't wish to program in assembly language or tune applications with special tools, this book orients the software developer making the transition from 32-bit to 64-bit architecture.