amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communic ...

and

computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, e ...

, a boat anchor or boatanchor is something obsolete, useless, and cumbersome – so-called because metaphorically its only productive use is to be thrown into the water as a boat

mooring A mooring is any permanent structure to which a vessel may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to forestall free movement of the ship on the water. An ''an ...

. Terms such as

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

, doorstop, and paperweight are similar.

Amateur radio

, a ''boat anchor'' or ''boatanchor'' is an old piece of

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

equipment. It is usually used in reference to large, heavy radio equipment of earlier decades that used tubes. In this context ''boat anchors'' are often prized by their owners and their strengths (e.g. immunity to EMP) emphasised, even if newer equipment is more capable. An early use of the term appeared in a 1956 issue of ''

CQ Amateur Radio ''CQ Amateur Radio'' (also known simply as ''CQ'' or ''CQ magazine'', and formerly as ''CQ: The Radio Amateur's Journal'') is a magazine for amateur radio enthusiasts first published in 1945. The English language edition is read worldwide; Spani ...

Magazine''. The magazine published a letter from a reader seeking "schematics or conversion data" for a war surplus

Wireless Set No. 19 The Wireless Set No. 19 was a Second World War mobile radio transceiver designed for use by Armoured warfare, armoured troops of the British Army. First introduced in 1940, the No. 19 began to replace the pre-war Wireless Set No. 11. Two modified ...

MK II

transceiver In radio communication, a transceiver is an electronic device which is a combination of a radio ''trans''mitter and a re''ceiver'', hence the name. It can both transmit and receive radio waves using an antenna, for communication purposes. The ...

in order to modify it for use on the amateur bands. The editor added this reply: The editor's use of the term generated some reader interest, and in February 1957, CQ published a follow-up story that included photos.

Computers

The metaphor transfers directly from old radios to old computers. It also has been extended to refer to relic software.

Hardware

Early

computers A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These programs ...

were physically large and heavy devices. As computers became more compact, the term ''boat anchor'' became popular among users to signify that the earlier, larger computer gear was obsolete, no longer useful, or even damaged.

Software

The term ''boat anchor'' has been extended to

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

boat anchor - NetLingo The Internet Dictionary
/ref> that is left in a system's

codebase In software development, a codebase (or code base) is a collection of source code used to build a particular software system, application, or software component. Typically, a codebase includes only human-written source code files; thus, a codeb ...

, typically in case it is needed later. This is an example of an

anti-pattern An anti-pattern in software engineering, project management, and business processes is a common response to a recurring problem that is usually ineffective and risks being highly counterproductive. The term, coined in 1995 by computer programmer An ...

and therefore can cause many problems for people attempting to maintain the

program Program, programme, programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program management, the process of managing several related projects * Time management * Program, a part of planning Arts and entertainment Audio * Progra ...

that contains the obsolete code. The key problem comes from the fact that programmers will have a hard time differentiating between obsolete code which doesn't do anything and working code which does. For example, a programmer may be looking into a bug with the program's input handling system, so they search through the code looking for code that links into the input handling API. Obviously if the programmer comes across obsolete input handling code they may well start editing and debugging it, wasting valuable time before they realise that the code that they're working with is never executed and therefore not part of the problem they're trying to solve. Other problems include longer compile times and the risk that programmers may accidentally link working code into the defunct code, inadvertently resurrecting it. A recommended solution for dealing with boat anchors in source code is to remove them from the code base and to place them in a separate location so that they can be referred to if necessary, but will not be compiled or be mistaken as "working" code. (For example, deleting them, knowing they are stored in the project's source control)

References

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External links