Intrinsic function

In computer software, in compiler theory, an intrinsic function, also called built-in function or builtin function, is a function (subroutine) available for use in a given programming language whose implementation is handled specially by the compiler. Typically, it may substitute a sequence of automatically generated instructions for the original function call, similar to an inline function. Unlike an inline function, the compiler has an intimate knowledge of an intrinsic function and can thus better integrate and optimize it for a given situation.

This article is about compiler intrinsic functions. For X toolkit, see X Toolkit Intrinsics.

Compilers that implement intrinsic functions may enable them only when a program requests optimization, otherwise falling back to a default implementation provided by the language runtime system (environment).

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.