Cruft

I used the word "cruft" to Matt today. He looked at me puzzled.

"Cruft? That's a word? Is that a real word?"

I looked at him puzzled. I'd been using cruft in sentences for over 14 years. How could he not know what the word "cruft" meant?

I explained, in programming terms, it's the extra, outdated code left around that sorta works, sorta doesn't, and needs to be cleaned out. In non-programming terms, it's the extra, crappy stuff, say flotsam and jetsam that get stuck in an eddy, that needs to be cleaned out.

He didn't believe me. He asked Sam if he had heard of the word. Sam hadn't either.

So, because it's in my notes, here's the reference and origin.

• Log in to read full content