Kludge

Key takeaways

Kludge belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kludge to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kludge from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A kludge or kluge () is a workaround or makeshift solution that is clumsy, inelegant, inefficient, difficult to extend, and hard to maintain. Its only benefit is that it rapidly solves an important problem using available resources. A famous example is the improvised CO2 scrubber that kept the astronauts alive on Apollo 13. This term is used in diverse fields such as computer science, aerospace engineering, Internet slang, evolutionary neuroscience, animation and government. It is similar in meaning to the naval term jury rig.

Etymology The word has alternate spellings (kludge and kluge), pronunciations ( and , rhyming with judge and stooge, respectively), and several proposed etymologies.

Jackson W. Granholm The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1989), cites Jackson W. Granholm's 1962 "How to Design a Kludge" article in the American computer magazine Datamation.

kludge /kluːdʒ/ Also kluge. (J. W. Granholm's jocular invention: see first quot.; cf. also bodge v., fudge v.)'An ill-assorted collection of poorly-matching parts, forming a distressing whole' (Granholm); esp. in Computing, a machine, system, or program that has been improvised or 'bodged' together; a hastily improvised and poorly thought-out solution to a fault or 'bug'. ... OED defines these two kludge cognates as: bodge 'to patch or mend clumsily' and fudge 'to fit together or adjust in a clumsy, makeshift, or dishonest manner'. The OED entry also includes the verb kludge ('to improvise with a kludge or kludges') and kludgemanship ('skill in designing or applying kludges'). Granholm humorously imagined a fictitious source for the term:

Phineas Burling is the chief calligrapher with the Fink and Wiggles Publishing Company, Inc. ... According to Burling, the word "kludge" first appeared in the English language in the early fifteen-hundreds. ... The word "kludge" is, according to Burling, derived from the same root as the German klug (Dutch kloog, Swedish klag, Danish klog, Gothic klaugen, Lettish [Latvian] kladnis and Sanskrit veklaunn), originally meaning 'smart' or 'witty'. In the typical machinations of language in evolutionary growth, the word "kludge" eventually came to mean 'not so smart' or 'pretty ridiculous' .... Today "kludge" forms one of the most beloved words in design terminology, and it stands ready for handy application to the work of anyone who gins up 110-volt circuitry to plug into the 220 VAC source. The building of a kludge, however, is not work for amateurs. Although OED accepts Granholm's coinage of the term (not the fanciful pseudo-etymology quoted above), there are examples of its use before the 1960s.

Germanic sources American Yiddish speakers use klug (קלוג) to mean 'too smart by half', the reflected meaning of German klug ('clever'). This may explain the idea of 'clever but clumsy and temporary', as well as the pronunciation variation from German. A reasonable translation of kludge into German yields Krücke i.e. 'crutch' (cf. bridge vs. Brücke). Cf. German Kloß ('dumpling', 'clod', diminutive Klößchen), Low Saxon klut, klute, Dutch kluit, perhaps related to Low German diminutive klütje ('dumpling', 'clod'), standard Danish kludder ('mess, disorder, clutter') and Danish Jutland dialect klyt ('piece of bad workmanship'). Arguments against the derivation from German klug:

There is no equivalent usage in German Both English pronunciations contain the soft g (dʒ) not present in German The word emerges in English only in the 20th century The alleged Swedish translation, klag, is incorrect and would properly be spelled klok. An alternative etymology suggests that the kludge spelling in particular derives ultimately from a word in Scots (a language closely related to English): cludge or cludgie/cludgey meaning 'toilet' (in either the room or device sense), with the kluge spelling possibly deriving from German, until the two terms were confused in the mid-20th century, as British and American (respectively) military slang. (See below.)

Kludge vs. kluge The Jargon File (a.k.a. The New Hacker's Dictionary), a glossary of computer programmer slang maintained by Eric S. Raymond, differentiates kludge from kluge and cites usage examples pre-dating 1962. Kluge seems to have the sense of 'overcomplicated', while kludge has only the sense of 'poorly done'.

kludge /kluhj/ n. Incorrect (though regrettably common) spelling of kluge (US). These two words have been confused in American usage since the early 1960s, and widely confounded in Great Britain since the end of World War II. [TMRC] A crock that works. (A long-ago Datamation article by Jackson Granholme [sic] similarly said: "An ill-assorted collection of poorly matching parts, forming a distressing whole.") v. To use a kludge to get around a problem. "I've kludged around it for now, but I'll fix it up properly later." This Jargon File entry notes that kludge apparently derives via British military slang from Scots cludge/cludgie ('toilet'), and became confused with American kluge during or after World War II.

kluge: /klooj/ [from the German klug, 'clever'; poss. related to Polish & Russian klucz ('a key, a hint, a main point')] n. A Rube Goldberg (or Heath Robinson) device, whether in hardware or software. n. A clever programming trick intended to solve a particular nasty case in an expedient, if not clear, manner. Often used to repair bugs. Often involves ad-hockery and verges on being a crock. n. Something that works for the wrong reason. vt. To insert a kluge into a program. "I've kluged this routine to get around that weird bug, but there's probably a better way." [WPI] n. A feature that is implemented in a rude manner. This entry notes kluge, which is now often spelled kludge, "was the original spelling, reported around computers as far back as the mid-1950s and, at that time, used exclusively of hardware kluges". Kluge "was common Navy slang in the World War II era for any piece of electronics that worked well on shore but consistently failed at sea". A summary of a 1947 article in the New York Folklore Quarterly states:

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kludge

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kludge claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kludge before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kludge ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kludge

In research: Kludge appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kludge in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kludge is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Mechanical engineering, Software quality, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kludge outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Kludge in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kludge means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kludge out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kludge in simple terms?

A kludge or kluge () is a workaround or makeshift solution that is clumsy, inelegant, inefficient, difficult to extend, and hard to maintain. Its only benefit is that it rapidly solves an important problem using available resources.

Why does Kludge matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kludge?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kludge.