Taco Bell programming

Taco Bell programming is an approach to software development that places value on consistently using the same development tools and languages to solve new problems. The approach gets its name from the way the Taco Bell fast food restaurant consistently uses the same limited number of ingredients to create each of its menu items.

While some software developers think it's important to keep up with the latest software development tools and languages, the philosophy behind Taco Bell programming flies in the face of this notion. The mindset of a Taco Bell programmer is that it's more efficient for an experienced programmer to use the tool set she already knows and solve the problem quickly, even if it's at the cost of style.

The idea of using Taco Bell in a programming analogy is credited to Ted Dziuba, who coined the term in a blog post he wrote in 2010. Dziubu emphasizes the idea the each time a new programming language, third-party service or line of code is used, it introduces the possibility of failure. In contrast, fixing problems Taco Bell style with a well-proven tool set saves time in development, testing, training and meetings.