Editing Basic block (section)

{{Short description|Code sequence with no branches except at entry and exit}}

In [[Compiler|compiler construction]], a '''basic block''' is a straight-line code sequence with no branches in except to the entry and no branches out except at the exit.<ref>Hennessy, John L.; David A. Patterson. ''Computer architecture: a quantitative approach''. Elsevier, 2011.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Engineering a compiler |last1=Cooper |first1=Keith Daniel |date=2012 |publisher=Elsevier/Morgan Kaufmann |last2=Torczon |first2=Linda |isbn=978-0120884780 |edition=2nd |location=[[Amsterdam]] |pages=231 |oclc=714113472}}</ref> This restricted form makes a basic block highly amenable to analysis.<ref>[http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=808479 "Control Flow Analysis"] by Frances E. Allen.</ref> [[Compiler]]s usually decompose programs into their basic blocks as a first step in the analysis process. Basic blocks form the vertices or nodes in a [[control-flow graph]].