Patch

A fix to a program. In the past, a patch used to mean changing actual executable, machine instructions, but today more often than not, it means replacing an executable module in its entirety such as an .EXE or .DLL file. A profusion of patches to an application implies that its logic was poorly designed in the first place. It also implies that the program's internal logic is becoming spaghetti code and more difficult to maintain.

Although the term typically refers to fixing a problem, it may also refer to a general enhancement. The same procedure is often used to add bug fixes to software as it is to add feature enhancements; thus, "applying patches" may refer to both kinds of modifications. See patch management and spaghetti code. See also MIDI patch.

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Patch

court fool of Elizabeth, wife of Henry VII. [Br. Hist.: Brewer Handbook, 380]

See : Clowns

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(software)

patch - 1. A temporary addition to a piece of code, usually as a quick-and-dirty remedy to an existing bug or misfeature. A patch may or may not work, and may or may not eventually be incorporated permanently into the program. Distinguished from a diff or mod by the fact that a patch is generated by more primitive means than the rest of the program; the classical examples are instructions modified by using the front panel switches, and changes made directly to the binary executable of a program originally written in an HLL. Compare one-line fix. 2. To insert a patch into a piece of code. 3. [in the Unix world] A diff. 4. A set of modifications to binaries to be applied by a patching program. IBM systems often receive updates to the operating system in the form of absolute hexadecimal patches. If you have modified your OS, you have to disassemble these back to the source code. The patches might later be corrected by other patches on top of them (patches were said to "grow scar tissue"). The result was often a convoluted patch space and headaches galore. There is a classic story of a tiger team penetrating a secure military computer that illustrates the danger inherent in binary patches (or, indeed, any patches that you can't - or don't - inspect and examine before installing). They couldn't find any trap doors or any way to penetrate security of IBM's OS, so they made a site visit to an IBM office (remember, these were official military types who were purportedly on official business), swiped some IBM stationery, and created a fake patch. The patch was actually the trapdoor they needed. The patch was distributed at about the right time for an IBM patch, had official stationery and all accompanying documentation, and was dutifully installed. The installation manager very shortly thereafter learned something about proper procedures. 5. Larry Wall's "patch" utility program, which automatically applies a patch to a set of source code or other text files. Patch accepts input in any of the four forms output by the Unix diff utility. When the files being patched are not identical to those on which the diffs were based, patch uses heuristics to determine how to proceed. Diff and patch are the standard way of producing and applying updates under Unix. Both have been ported to other operating systems. Patch Home.