Virtual Memory Translation Lookaside Buffer

(Me): so, we create this "virtual memory" to trick processes into thinking they have a contiguous address layout (Medieval peasant): Would not thy abstraction swell the tally of mem'ry lookups? (Me): well, yes. to deal with that we created the "translation lookaside buffer"

A social media post presents a dialogue between a modern computer engineer and a medieval peasant. The engineer explains virtual memory, while the peasant responds in archaic English by asking whether the abstraction increases memory lookups. The punchline is the engineer’s technical solution: the translation lookaside buffer, humorously framed as an answer to the peasant’s strangely sophisticated question.

• @gentoomemes / 21050 2026-06-06