fudge
1. vt. To perform in an incomplete but marginally acceptable
way, particularly with respect to the writing of a program. "I
didn't feel like going through that pain and suffering, so I
fudged it -- I'll fix it later." 2. n. The resulting code.
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fudge factor n.
[common] A value or parameter that is varied in an ad hoc way
to produce the desired result. The terms `tolerance' and slop are also used, though these usually
indicate a one-sided leeway, such as a buffer that is made larger
than necessary because one isn't sure exactly how large it needs
to be, and it is better to waste a little space than to lose
completely for not having enough. A fudge factor, on the other
hand, can often be tweaked in more than one direction. A good
example is the `fuzz' typically allowed in floating-point
calculations: two numbers being compared for equality must be
allowed to differ by a small amount; if that amount is too small,
a computation may never terminate, while if it is too large,
results will be needlessly inaccurate. Fudge factors are
frequently adjusted incorrectly by programmers who don't fully
understand their import. See also coefficient of X.