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static branch prediction

A fixed guessing rule that doesn't learn, such as "a branch backwards is a loop, so guess taken; a branch forwards, guess not taken".

Static branch prediction chooses a direction from the instruction alone (always not taken, or backward-taken/forward-not-taken, sometimes a compiler hint), without run-time history; modern cores use it only for branches they have never seen.

See also

branch prediction processor front end
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