obfuscator

obfuscator

A program that scrambles source code in order to make the program difficult to understand or reverse engineer. Because it is an interpreted language that is run from the original source code, scripting languages such as JavaScript are open to public inspection. Without being obfuscated (made unclear), the source code can be easily copied and modified for other purposes.

Obfuscation Techniques
The most common obfuscation techique is to change variable and function names to long nonsense words; for example, from TaxRoutine to 87n39y7_9yjn13, or worse yet a 15-digit binary number. That combined with removing all comments makes a program undecipherable. Eliminating all unnecessary line breaks also jumbles up the works, and there are other tricks of the trade.

Obfuscators for machine code are also available. See email obfuscator.

Copyright © 1981-2025 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.