spaghetti code

1 7.2

Poorly organized computer code that is tangled and hard to change

noun

Jargon

: código espagueti

Developers often advise against creating spaghetti code to ensure easy readability and maintenance.

Examples

As a direct result of that, most WebForms apps are blobs of spaghetti code.

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Unfinished spaghetti code sold for 60 dollars on disc, where you need a day one patch to get the game working properly.

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WebForms, for example, did not force anyone to write blobs of spaghetti code, but it certainly encouraged it.

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Many older software projects suffer from spaghetti code, making them difficult to maintain.
Debugging spaghetti code can be a frustrating experience due to its tangled logic.

Synonyms

dirty code

vsspaghetti code

Jargon

7.2

Computer code that is badly written and hard to read or fix

is tangled and especially hard to understand and maintain

hacky code

vsspaghetti code

Jargon

8.3

Code written quickly as a temporary fix that causes problems

is tangled and harder to maintain rather than a quick temporary fix

How Structured

clean code

Specialized

1 4.0

hacky code

Jargon

8.3

spaghetti code

Jargon

1 7.2

Surface Forms

spaghetti code singular

spaghetti codes plural

Morphology

spaghetti + code

The phrase pairs the literal food 'spaghetti' (long, tangled strands) with 'code' (program instructions), so the intended metaphor — code that is tangled and poorly structured like spaghetti — is partially recoverable from the constituents. However, this is technical jargon relying on a metaphorical mapping that a B1 learner may not automatically apply without exposure to programming contexts, so the relation is only partially predictable.

Etymology

The term spaghetti code may come from the image of long, tangled spaghetti on a plate, where the noodles cross and make a big mess. That's why it describes computer code that is 'tangled', 'hard to read', and 'difficult to change'.