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peephole optimization

peephole optimization noun: an optimization that works by eliminating redundant instructions from a small area of source code.

Noun

peephole optimization (countable and uncountable, plural peephole optimizations)

  1. An optimization that works by eliminating redundant instructions from a small area of source code.
    • The loop was more than twice as fast after I had applied peephole optimization.
    • The method of peephole optimization was described by McKeeman (1965). A simple code generator is replaced by one where short instruction sequences are replaced by ones which are shorter or faster.1979, P. J. Brown, editor, Software Portability: An Advanced Course, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 149

Forms of peephole optimization

pluralpeephole optimizations

Origin of peephole optimization

Coined by computer scientist William Marshall McKeeman in 1965, from peephole + optimization.

Questions about peephole optimization

What does peephole optimization mean?
Peephole optimization means an optimization that works by eliminating redundant instructions from a small area of source code.
What part of speech is peephole optimization?
Peephole optimization is a noun.
What is the plural of peephole optimization?
The plural of peephole optimization is peephole optimizations.

Words near peephole optimization in the dictionary

  1. peepers
  2. peepes
  3. peepest
  4. peepeth
  5. peephole
  6. peephole optimization
  7. peephole optimizations
  8. peepholed
  9. peepholer
  10. peepholers
  11. peepholes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: peephole optimization (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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