Cheat codes are ways of accessing features in a program (often a video game) that aren't open to the user under ordinary circumstances. Common cheats offer invincibility, unlimited ammunition, or the ability to walk through walls.
How the codes are inputted varies. The "Konami code" on the NES and Super Nintendo required basic but ordered button presses on the console's controller. On the PlayStation and later systems, external devices like the GameShark and Action Replay could be attached to the console to input memory alterations, and eventually allowed users to custom-create cheats for their games. On PC games, users have long been able to modify files within games to work however they wanted to due to the very nature of installed, read/write file directories for the software. With read-only formats (such as games that run from CDs or DVDs), users are limited to altering values temporarily stored in memory while the program is running. Cheating has spawned the creation of such prevention programs as VAC and Punkbuster to prevent cheating in online games where not everyone gains the same advantages.
In non-gaming applications, a "cheat" may simply be a workaround for a stubborn program that doesn't behave the way users would like.
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