3 ms·
It is absolutely done, it's just implicit rather than explicit. The simplest heuristic is to predict backwards branches as taken (loops) and forward branches as
by hrydgard 7y ago
It is absolutely done, it's just implicit rather than explicit. The simplest heuristic is to predict backwards branches as taken (loops) and forward branches as not taken, and it works quite well (though I think it might be more sophisticated than that).
- ncmncm 7y agoOf course the error-code checking branches will most usually be forward branches, thus not predicted correctly the first time through, or after spilling.