Amdahl

/ˈæmdɑːl/ noun

Definition

Short for Amdahl's Law, a principle in computer science describing how the speed of a program is limited by its slowest sequential part.

Etymology

Named after Gene Amdahl, American computer scientist who formulated the law in 1967 describing parallel computing performance limits.

Kelly Says

Amdahl's Law is a humbling truth in computing—no matter how many processors you throw at a problem, if 10% of the code can't be parallelized, you hit a ceiling; it's like trying to make a movie faster when the editor's only one person.

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