Learning Triton One Kernel At a Time: Vector Addition

OpenAI's Triton offers a Python-based language for writing efficient GPU kernels, providing a simpler alternative to CUDA for optimizing large models. The content explains GPU architecture basics, including threads, warps, and streaming multiprocessors, and discusses optimization techniques like operator fusion to reduce memory bandwidth costs. It then provides a detailed, step-by-step tutorial for creating a vector addition kernel, covering concepts like program IDs, memory pointers, offsets, and masking. The example concludes by showing how to write a PyTorch wrapper to launch the custom Triton kernel and manage its execution grid.