Spaghetti code

Spaghetti code is a pejorative phrase for source code that has a complex and tangled control structure, especially one using many GOTO statements, exceptions, threads, or other "unstructured" branching constructs.

Description

It is named such because program flow is conceptually like a bowl of spaghetti, i.e. twisted and tangled.

Spaghetti code can be caused by several factors, such as continuous modifications by several people over a long life cycle.

Structured programming

Structured programming greatly decreases the incidence of spaghetti code.

See also

• Code refactoring
• Edsger Wybe Dijkstra
• Goto
• Go To Statement Considered Harmful
• Software engineering
• Structured programming

External links

• Spaghetti code @ Wikipedia