least recently used


least recently used

[′lēst ¦rē·sənt·lē ‚yüzed] (computer science) A technique for using main storage efficiently, in which new data replace data in storage locations that have not been accessed for the longest period, as determined by an algorithm.

least recently used

(operating systems) (LRU) A rule used in a paging systemwhich selects a page to be paged out if it has been used(read or written) less recently than any other page. The samerule may also be used in a cache to select which cache entryto flush.

This rule is based on temporal locality - the observationthat, in general, the page (or cache entry) which has not beenaccessed for longest is least likely to be accessed in thenear future.