The word "memoize" is often used in computer programming to describe a technique of storing the results of expensive function calls so that they can be quickly retrieved later. The spelling of this word may seem peculiar, but it follows a common pattern in English - the letter "z" is used to represent the "s" sound when it follows a vowel and comes before a voiced consonant. In IPA phonetic transcription, "memoize" is pronounced /ˈmɛməʊaɪz/, with the stress on the second syllable.
Memoize is a concept widely used in computer science and mathematics to optimize and speed up functions or algorithms by caching their results for future use. It is a technique of storing the results of expensive function calls and returning the cached result when the same inputs occur again. This is particularly useful when the same function is called multiple times with the same arguments, as the function does not need to recompute the result every time.
The process of memoization typically involves creating a lookup table or cache to store previous results. When a function is called, it first checks if the arguments have already been computed and stored in the cache. If so, the cached result is returned directly, avoiding the need to recompute. If the arguments are not found in the cache, the function performs the computation, stores the result in the cache, and returns it.
Memoization improves the performance of functions with repeated or expensive computations, as it reduces the overall execution time by avoiding unnecessary recalculations. It is commonly used in algorithms involving recursive functions or dynamic programming, where the same subproblems are repeatedly encountered. By memoizing the results of previous function calls, the overall efficiency and speed of the algorithm can be significantly improved.
The word memoize is derived from the term memoization. The term was coined in 1968 by Donald Michie, a British computer scientist, as a variation of the word memorize.