Definition of runtime

The term "runtime" originated in the early days of computing, specifically in the context of operating systems and programming languages. In the 1950s and 1960s, computer scientists and programmers used the term "run-time" to describe the period of time when a program was executing on the computer, as opposed to the "compilation time" (or "compile-time") when the program was being translated into machine code. The term "runtime" was coined to emphasize that a program's behavior and performance were dependent on the specific circumstances of its execution, rather than just the programming language and compiler used to create it. Over time, the term "runtime" has evolved to encompass a broader range of meanings, including the operating environment, system resources, and execution speed, but its core concept remains rooted in the idea of a program's dynamic behavior during execution.