Definition
Plain language
A map of all the paths a program can take as it runs — every branch and every loop laid out.
As stated in the literature
A directed graph whose nodes are basic blocks and whose edges are possible transfers of control; in Agent JIT and optimize-anything, the cost model walks it to total up per-step costs and to detect expensive operations nested inside loops.
Also called: control flow graph, control-flow graphs
Why it matters: It lets a tool spot where a program's real expense lies, such as an expensive step hidden inside a loop, rather than guessing from the code's appearance.
For example, it shows that a piece of code runs once at the top but a costly operation buried inside a loop runs a thousand times.
Heard on the show
“The planner walks the control-flow graph of each candidate plan, totals up the costs, and ranks them.”Episode 063 — Why Web Agents Are Slow: A Compiler-Style Fix for Computer-Use Latency