Compile and Pray

Definitions

1. A joking phrase for making a change and then hoping compilation or the build pipeline will reveal whether it worked. In engineering slang, compile and pray describes work done with weak local confidence or poor test coverage.

   In plain English: Making code changes and then hoping the build tells you whether they worked.

   Example: "The old C++ module encouraged compile and pray development because the dependency graph was so tangled that small edits rarely had obvious outcomes."

Related Terms

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• Absolute Unit
• At Scale
• Bathroom Break Build
• Build Break
• Build Farm
• Unknown Unknown
• Version Roulette