Editing Branch (computer science) (section)

{{Short description|Instruction in computer program}}
{{for multi|the software engineering concept|Branching (version control)|other uses|Branch (disambiguation)}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2009}}
{{Machine code}}

A '''branch''', '''jump''' or '''transfer'''  is an instruction in a [[computer program]] that can cause a computer to begin executing a different instruction sequence and thus deviate from its default behavior of executing instructions in order.{{efn|At least conceptually; see [[out-of-order execution]].}} '''''Branch''''' (or ''branching'', ''branched'') may also refer to the act of switching execution to a different instruction sequence as a result of executing a branch instruction. Branch instructions are used to implement [[control flow]] in program loops and conditionals (i.e., executing a particular sequence of instructions only if certain conditions are satisfied).

A branch instruction can be either an ''unconditional branch'', which always results in branching, or a ''conditional branch'', which may or may not cause branching depending on some condition. Also, depending on how it specifies the address of the new instruction sequence (the "target" address), a branch instruction is generally classified as ''direct'', ''indirect'' or ''relative'', meaning that the instruction contains the target address, or it specifies where the target address is to be found (e.g., a register or memory location), or it specifies the difference between the current and target addresses.