Branch prediction works predictably well when the branch is heavily biased towards one outcome, typically follows a repeating pattern of a short length (eg. tak

Branch prediction works predictably well when the branch is heavily biased towards one outcome, typically follows a repeating pattern of a short length (eg. taken once every three iterations), or is strongly correlated with another preceding (not necessarily local) branch. Conversely, branch prediction works badly when they are data dependent on irregular data.