Word
non determinism
Definition
n. behavior in a computer system where giving the exact same instructions can produce different results due to randomness or timing.
n. the computational property whereby a system or algorithm can exhibit different behaviors or outputs on successive runs despite receiving identical initial inputs.
Examples
“Rolling dice is a form of non-determinism because each shake yields an unpredictable number.”
“Race conditions in concurrent software threads often introduce unwanted non-determinism into database transactions.”
“Non-determinism in multi-threaded CUDA kernels complicates the bitwise reproduction of gradient updates across parallel training clusters.”
Examples
simple
“Rolling dice is a form of non-determinism because each shake yields an unpredictable number.”
contextual
“Race conditions in concurrent software threads often introduce unwanted non-determinism into database transactions.”
complex
“Non-determinism in multi-threaded CUDA kernels complicates the bitwise reproduction of gradient updates across parallel training clusters.”
Etymology
From non- + determinism (from Latin determinare, 'to limit, fix'). Central to theoretical computer science (non-deterministic Turing machines) and concurrent systems.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domains
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/non-determinism