optimization
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the act of making a system or process work as well as it possibly can.
the design and operation of a system or process to achieve the most effective or functional state possible.
Simple“The company focused on the optimization of its delivery routes to save money on fuel.”
In context“The logistics manager implemented a series of workflow optimizations that significantly reduced the turnaround time for international shipments.”
UsageOften used with the preposition 'of' followed by the process being improved.
Synonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
making a computer program run faster or use less memory.
the modification of a software system or algorithm to improve its execution speed or reduce its resource consumption.
Simple“After some code optimization, the app started much faster on older phones.”
In context“The compiler performs several levels of optimization to ensure the final executable runs efficiently on the target hardware architecture.”
UsageCommonly functions as an uncountable noun in technical contexts.
Teacher's tipIn computing, this often refers to a trade-off where you improve speed at the cost of memory, or vice versa.
Synonyms
“This allows them to identify hotspots: specific processes within the product life cycle that have particularly high environmental impacts and can be targeted for optimization.”
“Android itself has more foldable optimizations than it once did, and Samsung has taken full advantage of that.”
From optimize + -ation.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.