hand hack
<jargon> 1. (Or "{hand cruft}") To Translate a {hot spot} of a
program in a {HLL} into {assembly language} {by hand}, as
opposed to trying to coerce the {compiler} into generating
better code. Both the term and the practice are becoming
uncommon.
See {tune}, {bum}.
2. More generally, manual construction or patching of data
sets that would normally be generated by a translation utility
and interpreted by another program, and aren't really designed
to be read or modified by humans.
[{Jargon File}]
(1995-02-16)