The term coe monkey generally refers to a computer programmer or other person who writes computer code for a living. More specifically, it refers to a person only capable of grinding out code, but unable to perform the more intellectually complex tasks of software architecture, analysis, and design. In this sense, the term is considered to be mildly insulting, and is often applied to the most junior people on a programming team. "Code monkey" may also refer to a self-deprecating way of denying responsibility for a management decision, or of complaining about having to live with such decisions (e.g. "Don't ask me why we need to write a compiler in COBOL, I'm just a code monkey.").