obscurity

n 1: the quality of being unclear or abstruse and hard to

understand [syn: {obscureness}, {abstruseness}, {reconditeness}]

[ant: {clarity}]

2: an obscure and unimportant standing; not well known; "he

worked in obscurity for many years" [ant: {prominence}]

3: the state of being indistinct or indefinite for lack of

adequate illumination [syn: {obscureness}]

job security

When some piece of code is written in a particularly

obscure fashion, and no good reason (such as time or space

optimisation) can be discovered, it is often said that the

programmer was attempting to increase his job security (i.e.

by making himself indispensable for maintenance). This sour

joke seldom has to be said in full; if two hackers are looking

over some code together and one points at a section and says

"job security", the other one may just nod.

[{Jargon File}]

(1996-09-17)