[ghc]

It's a supercomputer. The programming model is very, very different. The software stack is full of incredibly fragile stuff from any number of manufacturers. It's honestly hard to even describe how much more difficult using MPI with Fortran on a supercomputer is compared to anything I've ever touched elsewhere. Maybe factory automation comes close?

[wait_a_minute]

How could someone get practical experience in this space?

[ghc]

I know of five ways:

1. As an undergraduate, join a research group that needs to run simulations on a supercomputer.

2. As a grad student, join a research group that works with supercomputers.

3. As a software engineer or IT person, join a research group at a university. They need people too, but fair warning: the pay is...subpar.

4. Join a national laboratory in some capacity. This route necessitates working for your country's government or military, which may or may not be palatable to you depending on how you feel about your gov't/military.

5. Join a giant multinational company that has supercomputers and uses them. Exxon is a good example. They have massive supercomputing power.

Unless you're an undergrad, I'm afraid all the ways I know of suck in some way or another. I did 1 & 3. As for the rest, I think 2 would make the most sense if you have BS, because you can go get a masters in a year or so while getting the experience.