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What does "fragile" mean in programming?
fragile is one of the most common terms in software development. This guide explains what it means, how it is used in practice, and why it matters, with real examples from the developer world.
Definition
Describes code that breaks easily when surrounding conditions change. Fragile code has hidden assumptions, relies on implicit ordering, or handles only the happy path. A warning flag in code reviews that signals the code needs hardening.
Example
"This parsing is fragile — it will break if the API adds a new field or changes the date format."
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