What is an overhead?

Question

IT terminology

Concept applicable to a programming language

Answer 1

Unavoidable overhead.
For example, the program you wrote does useful work in 10ms, but it will take an additional 5 seconds to start and stop the Java virtual machine, and those 5 seconds will be overhead.

Answer 2

In simple words - when more calculations (cpu, memory or other resource) are spent than a sufficient minimum to complete the task. Usually, overhead allows you to achieve, for example, faster development, more understandable code, the use of simple algorithms, etc. It often happens in a bad manifestation, when a lot of resources are spent not within reasonable limits.

Answer 3

Excessive complication, unnecessary load, unreasonable expenditure of processor time or memory.
For example, using List instead of Vector in places where fast index access is important, but insertion in the middle is not.

Answer 4

This concept can only refer to a quantitatively measured parameter. A programming language is not.