Related:

• ad-hockery: /ad-hok'*r-ee/ [Purdue] n. 1. Gratuitous assumptions made inside certain programs, esp.
  expert systems, which lead to the appearance of semi-intelligent behavior but are in fact entirely arbitrary....
• ELIZA effect: /*-li:'z* *-fekt'/ [AI community] n. The tendency of humans to attach associations to terms from prior experience.
  For example, there is nothing magic about the symbol `+' that makes it well-suited to indicate additio...
• ELIZA effect /*-li:'z* *-fekt'/ n. [AI community] The tendency of humans to attach associations to terms from prior experience.
  For example, there is nothing magic about the symbol + that makes it well-suited to indicate additio...
• hidden flag: [scientific computation] n. An extra option added to a routine without changing the calling sequence.
  For example, instead of adding an explicit input variable to instruct a routine to give extra diagnostic output, the programmer might just add a test for some otherwise meaningless feature of the existing inputs, such as a negative mass....
• crock: [from the American scatologism `crock of shit'] n.
  1. An awkward feature or programming technique that ought to be made cleaner....
• plumbing: [UNIX] n. Term used for {shell} code, so called because of the prevalence of `pipelines' that feed the output of one program to the input of another.
  Under UNIX, user utilities can often be implemented or at least prototyped by a suitable collection of pipelines and temp-file grinding encapsulated in a shell scrip...
• fudge factor: n. A value or parameter that is varied in an ad hoc way to produce the desired result.
  The terms `tolerance' and {slop} are also used, though these usually indicate a one-sided leeway, such as a buffer that is made larger than necessary because one isn't sure exactly how large it needs to be, and it is better to waste a little space than to lose completely for not having enough....
• fencepost error: n. 1. A problem with the discrete equivalent of a boundary condition, often exhibited in programs by iterative loops.
  From the following problem: "If you build a fence 100 feet long with posts 10 feet apart, how many posts do you need?...
• creeping featurism: /kree'ping fee'chr-izm/ n. 1. Describes a systematic tendency to load more {chrome} and {feature}s onto systems at the expense of whatever elegance they may have possessed when originally designed.
  See also {feeping creaturism}. "You know, the main problem with {BSD} UNIX has always been creeping featurism....