Careless reading of computer-system specification sheets might lead one
to believe that CPU performance is a footrace on a clear track, as
illustrated in Figure ,
where the race always goes to the swiftest.
Although there are a few CPU-bound benchmarks that approach the ideal
shown in Figure ,
the typical program more closely resembles an obstacle course than
a race track.
This is because the internal architecture of CPUs has changed dramatically
over the past few decades, courtesy of Moore's Law.
These changes are described in the following sections.