black art
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Black art \Black" art`\
The art practiced by conjurers and witches; necromancy;
conjuration; magic.
[1913 Webster]
Note: This name was given in the Middle Ages to necromancy,
under the idea that the latter term was derived from
niger black, instead of nekro`s, a dead person, and
mantei`a, divination. --Wright.
[1913 Webster]
from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
black art
n.
[common] A collection of arcane, unpublished, and (by implication)
mostly ad-hoc techniques developed for a particular application or
systems area (compare {black magic}). VLSI design and compiler code
optimization were (in their beginnings) considered classic examples of
black art; as theory developed they became {deep magic}, and once
standard textbooks had been written, became merely {heavy wizardry}.
The huge proliferation of formal and informal channels for spreading
around new computer-related technologies during the last twenty years
has made both the term black art and what it describes less common
than formerly. See also {voodoo programming}.
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
black art
A collection of arcane, unpublished, and (by implication)
mostly ad-hoc techniques developed for a particular
application or systems area (compare {black magic}). VLSI
design and compiler code optimisation were (in their
beginnings) considered classic examples of black art; as
theory developed they became {deep magic}, and once standard
textbooks had been written, became merely {heavy wizardry}.
The huge proliferation of formal and informal channels for
spreading around new computer-related technologies during the
last twenty years has made both the term "black art" and what
it describes less common than formerly. See also {voodoo
programming}.
[{Jargon File}]
[email protected]