Definition
Complete Stage
The complete stage is the pipeline stage in which an instruction finishes execution and produces its result, but has not yet committed to architectural state.
At this point the result is available for forwarding to dependent instructions, but it remains speculative: if an earlier instruction raises an exception, the result may be discarded.
Relation to Commit
Complete and commit are distinct phases. An instruction can be complete — its result physically ready — while still waiting for all earlier instructions to commit. This separation enables out-of-order completion while maintaining in-order commit for precise exceptions.