Delta timing

Delta Time or Delta Timing is a concept used amongst programmers in relation to hardware and network responsiveness. In graphics programming, the term is usually used for variably updating scenery based on the elapsed time since the game last updated, (i.e. the previous "frame") which will vary depending on the speed of the computer, and how much work needs to be done in the game at any given time. This also allows graphics to be calculated separately if graphics are being multi-threaded. In network programming, due to the unpredictable nature of internet connections, Delta Timing is used in a similar way to variably update the movement information received via the network, regardless of how long it took to receive the next data packet of movement information.