hard-coding

Hard-coding is the practice of embedding fixed values directly into a program's source code rather than making them configurable or retrievable from external sources.

A hard-coded value cannot be changed without modifying the code itself, which makes software less flexible and harder to maintain.

Developers often hard-code values during initial development for convenience, then replace them with variables or configuration files later.

The API key was hard-coded into the app, which became a security nightmare.