A folk-magic charm or simple spell, often used for good luck, healing, or warding off bad things. The honorific prefix お gives it a gentle, everyday feel. Can also refer to a curse in context.
祖母は風邪が治るようにとおまじないを唱えた。
My grandmother chanted a charm to cure my cold.
A friend taught me a good-luck spell for passing the test.
boilerplate code; magic incantation (computing)
Jocular computing term for code that seems to work like a magic spell, especially boilerplate or code whose purpose is not immediately clear. Often used in programmer slang.
If you don't write this incantation, the program won't run.
Code that looks like a magic spell to beginners makes sense once you understand it.