premature optimization

noun

The act of wasting resources on optimising source code that does not represent a significant bottleneck.

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Meanings

nounpremature optimization (countable and uncountable, plural premature optimizations)

plural premature optimizations · alternative premature optimisation

  1. countableuncountablecomputingThe act of wasting resources on optimising source code that does not represent a significant bottleneck.

    2016, Amitt Mahajan, Why you’re mispricing your VR seed round, VentureBeat Similar to engineering, premature optimization can cause you to focus on items that don’t materially affect your outcome and can divert your attention away from those that do.

    1 more example

    The real problem is that programmers have spent far too much time worrying about efficiency in the wrong places and at the wrong times; premature optimization is the root of all evil (or at least most of it) in programming.

    1973, Donald Knuth, The Art of Computer Programming

Origin

It was first coined by Donald Knuth in his 1974 monograph The Art of Computer Programming which won a Turing Award.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

premature optimization. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/premature%20optimization

MLA

“premature optimization.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/premature%20optimization. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “premature optimization,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/premature%20optimization.

Source: premature optimization on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.