Related:

• playpen: [IBM] n. A room where programmers work. Compare {salt mines}.
  -- The AI Hackers Dictionary...
• alt mines n. Dense quarters housing large numbers of programmers working long hours on grungy projects, with some hope of seeing the end of the tunnel in N years.
  Noted for their absence of sunshine. Compare playpen, sandbox....
• alt mines: n. Dense quarters housing large numbers of programmers working long hours on grungy projects, with some hope of seeing the end of the tunnel in N years.
  Noted for their absence of sunshine. Compare {playpen}, {sandbox}....
• andbox: n. 1. (also `sandbox, the') Common term for the R&D department at many software and computer companies (where hackers in commercial environments are likely to be found).
  Half-derisive, but reflects the truth that research is a form of creative play....
• yntactic salt n. The opposite of syntactic sugar, a feature designed to make it harder to write bad code.
  Specifically, syntactic salt is a hoop the programmer must jump through just to prove that he knows what's going on, rather than to express a program action....
• yntactic salt: n. The opposite of {syntactic sugar}, a feature designed to make it harder to write bad code.
  Specifically, syntactic salt is a hoop the programmer must jump through just to prove that he knows what's going on, rather than to express a program action....
• andbox n. 1. (also `sandbox, the') Common term for the R&
  D department at many software and computer companies (where hackers in commercial environments are likely to be found)....
• VMS isn't an operating system, it's a playpen for DEC system programmers. -- Herb Blashtfal
• ironmonger n. [IBM] A hardware specialist (derogatory). Compare sandbender, polygon pusher.