A Code monkey is a computer programmer or other person who writes computer code

Source code

In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...

 for a living. This term may be slightly derogatory, meaning that this developer can write some code but is unable to (or not supposed to) perform the more complex tasks of software architecture, analysis, and design. It is usually applied to junior programmers.

Mainstream use

Jonathan Coulton

Jonathan Coulton

Jonathan Coulton is an American singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans...

’s song Code Monkey, which became a hit on Slashdot

Slashdot

Slashdot is a technology-related news website owned by Geeknet, Inc. The site, which bills itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters", features user-submitted and ‑evaluated current affairs news stories about science- and technology-related topics. Each story has a comments section...

 and received mention in The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, describes the frustrations of a junior programmer’s life. Coulton's song has appeared in television commercials, and is the theme song for the G4

G4 (TV channel)

G4, also known as G4 TV, is an American cable- and satellite-television channel originally geared primarily toward young adult viewers, originally based on the world of video games...

 television network show Code Monkeys

Code Monkeys

Code Monkeys is an American animated television program created by Adam de la Peña. Set in the early 1980s, it follows the adventures of fictional video game company GameaVision....

.

A software games developer called The Code Monkeys claims to hold a trademark

Trademark

A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...

to the name.