Deferred execution is a programming concept where the evaluation of an expression is delayed until its value is actually needed. This technique is often used with LINQ queries in C# to optimize performance by avoiding unnecessary computations until the query results are actually accessed, kind of like procrastinating on doing your laundry until you run out of clean underwear.

How to use it in a sentence

• "I was going to refactor that legacy codebase, but I decided to use deferred execution and put it off until the next sprint."

• "We could eager load all 10 million records from the database, but let's use deferred execution and only retrieve the data as the user scrolls through the grid. That way we don't crash the server like we did during the Facebook IPO."

If you actually want to learn more...

• Deferred Execution in LINQ to SQL: This MSDN article explains how LINQ to SQL leverages deferred execution to efficiently query databases without retrieving unnecessary data.

• Understanding Deferred Execution in C#: This Pluralsight guide dives into the details of how deferred execution works in C# and provides examples of how it can be used to optimize performance.

• Lazy Evaluation: This Wikipedia article covers the general concept of lazy evaluation, which is the foundation for deferred execution in many programming languages. It's a bit academic but provides good background if you want to impress your colleagues at the next team lunch.

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