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