The AntiPatternsBook diagnoses LavaCode: StovepipeProjects often contain inextricable modules that cannot be removed easily (in the absence of UnitTests and Refactor-minded coders) and which do nothing.
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"Clyde was working on that when he left."
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"We should leave this here for if marketing changes its mind back again."
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"That stuff doesn't do anything but it makes compiles really long. But when we tried to remove it we made one little change and hit a bug in the compiler, so the project lead said to leave it alone."
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"This module researches AI concepts, so tha'd be cool to have after it goes online."
Also known as LavaFlow, which can result from coding against a changing architecture.
See also: SideEffect, ErrorsBecomeFeatures