Boilerplate text, or simply boilerplate, is any written text ( copy) that can be reused in new contexts or applications without significant changes to the original. The term is used about statements, contracts, and

source code In computing, source code, or simply code or source, is a plain text computer program written in a programming language. A programmer writes the human readable source code to control the behavior of a computer. Since a computer, at base, only ...

, and is often used pejoratively to refer to clichéd or unoriginal writing.

Etymology

"Boiler plate" originally referred to the rolled steel used to make

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

s to heat water. Metal printing plates ( type metal) used in hot metal typesetting of prepared text such as advertisements or syndicated columns were distributed to small, local

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

s, and became known as 'boilerplates' by analogy. One large supplier to newspapers of this kind of boilerplate was the Western Newspaper Union, which supplied "ready-to-print stories" that "contained national or international news" to papers with smaller geographic footprints, which could include advertisements pre-printed next to the conventional content.

Boilerplate language

In contract law, the term "boilerplate language" or "

boilerplate clause A boilerplate clause is a legal English term that is used in conjunction with contract law. When forming contracts, parties to the contract often use templates or forms with boilerplate clauses ( boilerplate language, used as standard language). ...

" describes the parts of a contract that are considered standard. A

standard form contract A standard form contract (sometimes referred to as a ''contract of adhesion,'' a ''leonine contract'', a ''take-it-or-leave-it contract'', or a '' boilerplate contract'') is a contract between two parties, where the terms and conditions of the co ...

or boilerplate contract is a contract between two parties, where the terms and conditions of the contract are set by one of the parties, and the other party has little or no ability to negotiate more favorable terms and is thus placed in a "take it or leave it" position. Boilerplate language may also exist in pre-created form letters. The person sending the form letter then usually only needs to add his or her name at the end of the pre-written greeting and body. Typically, the sender of such a letter needs to personalize it minimally, often by just adding their name or specific details to a pre-written greeting and body, making these templates highly practical for mass communication or repetitive correspondence.

Boilerplate code

In computer programming, boilerplate is the sections of code that have to be included in many places with little or no alteration. Such boilerplate code is particularly salient when the programmer must include a lot of code for minimal functionality. A related phenomenon, bookkeeping code, is code that is not part of the business logic, but is interleaved with it to keep data structures updated or able to handle secondary aspects of the program.

Boilerplate statement

A boilerplate statement or response generally refers to a message used with minimal effort for multiple different situations. Examples include official statements from government officials such as " Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected" or messages left by companies' voicemail such as "Thank you for holding. Your call is very important to us."

References

External links