hand-hacking

hand-hacking
 n.

   1. [rare] The practice of translating {hot spot}s from an {HLL} into
   hand-tuned assembler, as opposed to trying to coerce the compiler into
   generating better code. Both the term and the practice are becoming
   uncommon. See {tune}, {by hand}; syn. with v. {cruft}.

   2. [common] 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.