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'.

