Ball of Mud
Noun · Slang & Abbreviations
Definitions
A disparaging term for a system with tangled structure, weak boundaries, and accumulated complexity that makes change difficult. In software design culture, a ball of mud is the opposite of intentional architecture, though many real systems drift there over time.
In plain English: A messy, tangled system with poor structure.
Example: "The rewrite proposal was really an attempt to escape a ball of mud where billing, auth, and reporting all shared hidden database assumptions."
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