Derivative code

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Derivative code or Chameleon code is

process, some code will survive all the way through the pipeline from beginning to end, and then back to the beginning again.

This code is, by definition, derivative code. The following procedure can be used to easily test if any source code is derivative code or not.

1. Delete the code in question
2. Build (or compile) the project

If the build process simply replaces the source code which has been deleted, it is (obviously) code which has been derived from something else and is therefore, by definition, derivative code.

If the build process fails, and a human needs to re-create the deleted code by hand, this is again, by definition, hand code.

The

and other tools which create derivative code, are usually themselves either in part, or entirely hand code.