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black art

   implication) mostly ad-hoc techniques developed for a particular
   application or systems area (compare black magic).  VLSI design
   and compiler code optimization were (in their beginnings)
   considered classic examples of black art; as theory developed they
   became deep magic, and once standard textbooks had been written,
   became merely heavy wizardry.  The huge proliferation of formal
   and informal channels for spreading around new computer-related
   technologies during the last twenty years has made both the term
   `black art' and what it describes less common than formerly.  See
   also voodoo programming.