JargonFile/entries/bells and whistles.txt
2014-04-26 15:52:28 +01:00

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bells and whistles
n. [common] Features added to a program or system to make it more flavorful from a hacker's point of view, without necessarily adding to its utility for its primary function. Distinguished from chrome , which is intended to attract users. Now that we've got the basic program working, let's go back and add some bells and whistles. No one seems to know what distinguishes a bell from a whistle. The recognized emphatic form is bells, whistles, and gongs. It used to be thought that this term derived from the toyboxes on theater organs. However, the and gongs strongly suggests a different origin, at sea. Before powered horns, ships routinely used bells, whistles, and gongs to signal each other over longer distances than voice can carry. Sometimes trouble is spelled bells and whistles. .. (The next cartoon in the Crunchly saga is 73-06-04. The previous one is 73-05-28.