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Software Engineering vocabulary · Architecture, Design Patterns and Graphics

Optimization

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

nounCore term

In software engineering, optimization means: Work that makes a game run faster and use less memory, battery or bandwidth, for example by simplifying models, reducing draw calls or rewriting slow code.

In Turkish: optimizasyon, performans iyileştirme

How it is used

A constant topic before launch and in reviews of PC ports. People say a game is well or poorly optimized. Good optimization starts with measuring in a profiler, not guessing. The verb is optimize.

Example sentences

  1. We have two weeks of optimization before the console submission.

  2. Most of the optimization work was on the crowd system, not the graphics.

Common collocations

  • performance optimization
  • optimization pass
  • poorly optimized
  • memory optimization
  • profilerA tool that measures where a game spends its time and memory, frame by frame, so developers can find what makes it slow instead of guessing.
  • frame rateThe number of images a game draws on the screen each second, measured in frames per second (fps). A higher, steadier frame rate makes the game look and feel smoother.
  • draw callA command the CPU sends to the graphics card to draw a group of polygons with one material. Too many draw calls per frame can slow a game down.
  • level of detailA technique that swaps a model for simpler versions as it gets farther from the camera, so distant objects use fewer polygons and the game runs faster.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Architecture, Design Patterns and Graphics

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