Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site lsuc.UUCP Path: utzoo!utcs!lsuc!msb From: msb@lsuc.UUCP (Mark Brader) Newsgroups: net.books Subject: Re: Dictionaries (where to find "klu(d)ge") Message-ID: <494@lsuc.UUCP> Date: Sat, 9-Mar-85 16:56:51 EST Article-I.D.: lsuc.494 Posted: Sat Mar 9 16:56:51 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 9-Mar-85 18:05:54 EST References: <906@ratex.UUCP> <220@vaxwaller.UUCP> Reply-To: msb@lsuc.UUCP (Mark Brader) Organization: Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto Lines: 31 Summary: The Hacker's Dictionary cw@vaxwaller.UUCP (Carl Weidling) writes: > > But what dictionaries define the word kludge? (I'm not even sure > how to spell it because I can't find it in any dictionaries. Not a dictionary in the proper sense, but a charming and amusing little book, is The Hacker's Dictionary by Guy L. Steele Jr. with Woods, Finkel, Crispin, Stallman, and Goodfellow. I paid $8.50 (paperback) in Canada, so it's probably $5 or $6 in the US. KLUGE, KLUDGE (klooj) Noun. 1. A Rube Goldberg device in hardware or software. 2. A clever programming trick intended to solve a particularly nasty case in an efficient, if not clear, manner. Often used to repair BUGS. Often verges on being a CROCK. 3. Something that works for the wrong reason. 4. Verb. To insert a kluge into a program. "I've kluged this routine to get around that weird bug, but there's probably a better way." Also "kluge up." 5. A feature that is implemented in a RUDE manner. KLUGE AROUND. To avoid (a problem) by inserting a kluge. The book makes no pretense to generality, but covers the slang used at certain university communities over a period of years. It's a revision of "the famous 'jargon file'". It was published in 1983. It's good. Mark Brader