1 definition by Holden karau
Hoboware is a general programming term for bad pieces of source code. The defining characteristic of hoboware, as opposed to bad code in general, is that it is an implementation of a problem for which an efficient algorithm is known. Because the correct implementations are difficult to track down, the code is needlessly created over and over, either by many different parties or by the same author, usually at the cost of efficiency and readability. The prefix "hobo" is probably an analogy between the code's elusiveness and the itinerant, carefree nature of the stereotypical American hobo or gypsy1.
by Holden karau April 13, 2007