Among my software developer friends, the term “spaghetti code” is used to refer to program code that is so poorly written and entangled that any attempt to diagram the logic and flow would resemble a plate of spaghetti. It also refers to how some people test to see if spaghetti is fully cookied: by throwing a randomly chosen strand against a wall… if it sticks, then it’s done.
Thus, “spaghetti code” (or “cargo cult programming” or “vide coding”) is software that is created by throwing together lots of pieces of code until something “sticks to the wall.” This is often the way that the current crop of LLM “pseudo-AI” tools are being used to write code.
Regrettably, and with absolutely no disrespect intended, this behavior sometimes occurs among the well-intentioned self-described “non-programmers” who try to write TiddlyWiki wikitext code, and especially in regard to writing TiddlyWiki filters.
My response is generally to try to show them how to construct the proper wikitext code to achieve their objectives in the hope that they “learn how to cook”, rather than eating McDonalds take-out and calling it a meal.
“Give a man a fish and he eats for a day… teach a man to fish and he devastates an entire eco-sytem.”
-e
