Related:

• howstopper: n. A hardware or (especially) software bug that makes an implementation effectively unusable
  one that absolutely has to be fixed before development can go on....
• bug n. An unwanted and unintended property of a program or piece of hardware, esp.
  one that causes it to malfunction. Antonym of feature....
• engine n. 1. A piece of hardware that encapsulates some function but can't be used without some kind of front end.
  Today we have, especially, `print engine': the guts of a laser printer....
• engine: n. 1. A piece of hardware that encapsulates some function but can't be used without some kind of {front end}.
  Today we have, especially, `print engine': the guts of a laser printer....
• kluge /klooj/ [from the German `klug', clever; poss.
  related to Polish `klucz' (a key, a hint, a main point)] 1....
• weeds n. 1. Refers to development projects or algorithms that have no possible relevance or practical application.
  Comes from `off in the weeds'. Used in phrases like "lexical analysis for microcode is serious weeds....
• blivet /bliv'*t/ n. [allegedly from a World War II military term meaning "ten pounds of manure in a five-pound bag"] 1.
  An intractable problem. 2. A crucial piece of hardware that can't be fixed or replaced if it breaks....
• blivet: /bliv'*t/ [allegedly from a World War II military term meaning "ten pounds of manure in a five-pound bag"] n.
  1. An intractable problem. 2. A crucial piece of hardware that can't be fixed or replaced if it breaks....
• break-even point n. In the process of implementing a new computer language, the point at which the language is sufficiently effective that one can implement the language in itself.
  That is, for a new language called, hypothetically, FOOGOL, one has reached break-even when one can write a demonstration compiler for FOOGOL in FOOGOL, discard the original implementation language, and thereafter use working versions of FOOGOL to develop newer ones....