Cargo Cult Software

Definition

Cargo Cult Development is a term used to describe the act of designing a product or service simply because something exists out here that is successful, but the underlying purpose or use of the service is not developer. It can be seen in people who ask contracts to design a social network. Something may look like a social network but not look or function like it in the same way.

It is based on the idea that people would worship an object that fall from the sky and attempt to recreate it , but that that object would only look like the original, and not function like the original.