See http://www.science.uva.nl/~mes/jargon/c/cargocultprogramming.html for a definition of "cargo cult programming". This interesting site, called the Jargon File, has "shotgun debugging", "voodoo programming", "black magic programming", etc. (They did not quite get the dates on cargo cults right, though. Rather than starting at the time of WW II, these cults merely revived at that time. See http://www.aznewage.com/cargocult.htm for a more historical account.) You may also want to look at Richard Feynman's talk on "Cargo Cult Science".