bit rot

expression

programmingops culture

The way working software seems to decay over time as the world around it changes.

The bits do not literally rot, but dependencies move, platforms shift, and assumptions expire, so untouched code that ran fine last year now breaks. It is why 'if it works, don't touch it' is a trap - unmaintained systems rot precisely because everything else keeps moving.

Also known as: bit rot, software rot, code rot, link rot

All glossary entries