Final answer:
Compile-time initialization is the assignment of values to variables during the compilation of a program, as opposed to during its execution at run-time. This is particularly efficient for variables that have constant values.
Step-by-step explanation:
Compile-time initialization refers to the process of initializing variables at the time of compilation in programming. This is in contrast to run-time initialization, which occurs while the program is running. Compile-time initialization ensures that the variables are assigned values before the executable program is created.
For example, in the C programming language, you can initialize a global variable like this:
int myVar = 10;
This code snippet assigns the value 10 to the variable myVar at compile-time, meaning the value is set when the source code is compiled into an executable program. This is an efficient way to initialize variables that have a constant value throughout the execution of the program.