“Y2K” Bug — Year 2000
How 2 digits became a programmers’ nightmare?..
Y2K, which simply means “year 2000” (2K = 2000) was a computer flaw/bug that caused some problems (not that critical actually) when dealing with dates beyond December 31, 1999. This was also known as the “Millennium Bug”. This bug (not a virus though) was experienced by computer programmers and users when the “Mayan” calendar turns to 1st of January 2000. That is why this is called as the “Millennium Bug”. So, let’s discuss how this simple “two-digit” date format caused problems in late 90's.
When sophisticated computer programs were being written during the 1960s through the 1980s, programmers used a two-digit code to represent the year. The “19” part was omitted. As an example, instead of a date reading 1970, it read as 70. Programmers shortened the date because data storage in computers was costly and took up a lot of space.
As the year 2000 approached, programmers realized that computers won’t recognize 00 as 2000 because it refers to 1900. Because of this, programmers feared that, sophisticated mission critical software that were programmed on a daily and yearly basis might get damaged or flawed since January 1, 2000 might get referred as January 1, 1900.
Institutions like Banks, which calculate interest rates on a daily basis, faced real problems. Instead of the rate of interest for one day, the computer would calculate a rate of interest for minus almost 100 years. Powerplants, were also got feared of the bug. Powerplants depend on routine computer maintenance for safety checks, such as water pressure and radiation levels. Invalid calculations would occur if the date is NOT accurate possibly put nearby residents at risk.
Transportation was also depending on the correct time and date. Airlines in particular were put at risk, as computers with records of all scheduled flights would be threatened after all, there were very few airline flights in 1900.
Actually nothing happened as expected by the programmers. Australia recalled almost it’s entire embassy staff from Russia prior to January 1st, 2000 because of fear of what might happen if communications or transportation networks broke down. But it is better to be safe than sorry. Also get ready for the next one which is “Year 2038” problem. That topic is for another article.😉
Until then, Peace. ✌
