In algorithms, precomputation is the act of performing an initial computation before run time to Generate a Lookup Table that can be used by an algorithm to avoid repeated computation each time it is executed. wikipedia ![]()
Precomputation is often used in algorithms that depend on the results of expensive computations that don't depend on the input of the algorithm. A trivial example of precomputation is the use of hardcoded mathematical constants, such as π and e, rather than computing their approximations to the necessary precision at run time.
In databases, the term materialization is used to refer to storing the results of a precomputation, such as in a materialized view.