The Principle of Locality

• The Principle of Locality:

  • Program access a relatively small portion of the address space at any instant of time.
  • Example: 90% of time in 10% of the code

• Two Different Types of Locality:

  • Temporal Locality (Locality in Time): If an item is referenced, it will tend to be referenced again soon.
  • Spatial Locality (Locality in Space): If an item is referenced, items whose addresses are close by tend to be referenced soon.

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