Expression describing code written by inexperienced, lazy and untalented developers

Question

One of my characters is a young graduate student who leaves her adviser. He takes her research code and he gets his other students to use it, not forgetting to say all sorts of mean things about her and the code.
I need a derogatory expression for code that is written by a young and inexperienced developer who contains many typical mistakes: do loops that do nothing, non-descriptive names for variables, monolithic blocks, repeated blocks of code where a function will do, inconsistent naming convention, etc.
I have heard terms like "spaghetti code", "hydra code", "jenga code", but they don't necessary imply ineptitude on the part of the developer. Also I've heard the term "Jimmy" describing the clueless developer. "Jimmy code" would be a choice then, but I'm not a programmer, so I don't know what is used.

Michael Curtis · Answer

I think "spaghetti code" implies ineptitude, but it might also implies several developers and something that grew out of control over time. "Legacy code" is another excuse I hear for crap code. When a developer is speaking of their own garbage code they call it "quick and dirty" implying they just didn't have time to do a good job. "Hack" is often misunderstood to mean "crack" security, but it really means inelegant, inefficient code that works.
FWIW, some people don't like compact, elegant code if it ends up hard to read and understand. slightly longer, but readable code is sometimes preferred.

Expression describing code written by inexperienced, lazy and untalented developers

One Answer

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question