Any improvised (usu. from mismatched parts) hardware solution.
Pronounced “klooj.†With computers, a term used to describe a piece of hardware or software that basically operates properly but whose construction or design is severely lacking in elegance or logical efficiency. With hardware, a kludge is generally a short-term or makeshift solution to a problem, often characterized by the use of various types of adhesive tape, inventive electrical connections, and unstylish housing. With software, a kludge is a program that suffers from a lack of design or forethought; usually, a kludged piece of software is one written in a hurry to satisfy an immediate need. Such software is extremely difficult for anyone other than its creator to maintain, and it has a tendency to blossom into spaghetti code.
Is a quick, not best, fix to a problem. A kludge often works for the wrong reason. It is also the RFC headers to an email. These show where the email originated and through which servers it passed. They also may show the final destination as well as the times it passed through each server.
A hardware or software solution that has been improvised. Slang for makeshift.
A program or a solution to a problem that isn't written carefully, doesn't work as well as it should, doesn't use good programming style, and so on.
n. 1. A short-term or makeshift hardware construction. 2. A program characterized by a lack of design or forethought, as if written in a hurry to satisfy an immediate need. A kludge basically operates properly, but its construction or design is severely lacking in elegance or logical efficiency. See also braindamaged, hack1 (definition 1), spaghetti code.
A programming term for a workaround or an inelegant solution to a problem.
A kludge (or, alternatively, kluge) is a clumsy or inelegant solution to a problem or difficulty. In engineering, a kludge is a workaround, typically using unrelated parts cobbled together. Especially in computer programs, a kludge is often used to fix an unanticipated problem in an earlier kludge; this is essentially a kind of cruft.
