Delta update

This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "Delta update" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

A delta update is a software update that requires the user to download only those parts of the software's code that are new, or have been changed from their previous state, in contrast to having to download the entire program. The use of delta updates can save significant amounts of time and computing bandwidth. The name "delta" derives from the mathematical science use of the Greek letter delta, Δ or δ to denote change.^[1]