= Solution
For typical atoms and molecules, the <Becke 1988 exchange functional> improves exchange energies and commonly improves molecular energetics relative to exchange-only <local density approximation>, because it accounts for density gradients and corrects important nonuniformity errors. This is a general trend, not a theorem for every observable or system.
A comparison of total molecular predictions also depends on the correlation functional, basis, spin treatment and geometry. B88 is an exchange approximation, not by itself a complete specification of an exchange-correlation calculation.
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