This is unique within the scope of both conventional and neural computation (which act in a way similar to the human brain), and also covers such topics as the basic paradigm used in the field, how the system is programmed or trained, technical aspects including connectivity and processing complexity elements, and how the system performance is estimated (and why doing so is difficult). The penultimate chapter consists of a series of case studies the archetype of a parallel computer, each study written by an individual closely connected with the system concerned.