from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
voodoo programming
n.
[from George Bush's "voodoo economics"]
1. 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}, {SCSI voodoo}.
2. Things programmers do that they know shouldn't work but they try
anyway, and which sometimes actually work, such as recompiling
everything.
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
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)