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dead code: n. Routines that can never be accessed because all calls to them have
been removed, or code that cannot be reached because it is guarded by a
control structure that provably must always transfer control somewhere
else. The presence of dead code may reveal either logical errors due to
alterations in the program or significant changes in the assumptions and
environment of the program (see also software rot);
a good compiler should report dead code so a maintainer can think about
what it means. (Sometimes it simply means that an
extremely defensive programmer has inserted
can't happen tests which really can't happen —
yet.) Syn. grunge. See also
dead, and
The Story of Mel'.
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