voodoo programming
<jargon> (From George Bush's "voodoo economics") The use by guess or
cookbook of an obscure or hairy system, feature, or algorithm that one does not
truly understand. The implication is that the technique may not work, and if it
doesn't, one will never know why. Almost synonymous with black magic, except
that black magic typically isn't documented and *nobody* understands it.
Compare magic, deep magic, heavy wizardry, rain dance, cargo cult programming,
wave a dead chicken.
[Jargon File]
(1995-03-10)
Nearby terms:
von Neumann, John « von Neumann machine « von
Neumann ordinal « voodoo programming »
Voronoi diagram » Voronoi polygon » VOS
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