Why are TDD 'Spikes' called 'Spikes?

Question

The test driven development guys refer to a quick, exploratory, investigation that involves coding something up to see if it works, a spike.

An

Answer 1

I believe it is an engineering expression. A spike is a temporary solution, something you try out to see if it works, before you make the permanent solution. Railroad engineers talk about spiking a track switch: inserting a rail spike into the switch, so it cannot be moved.