Software Development: Building Reliable Systems

The Year 2000 and Other Similar Problems

Software has always been very difficult to develop and even more difficult to modify. Witness the billions of dollars being spent by corporations worldwide to upgrade or replace approximately 36 million applications so they will function correctly in the year 2000 (Y2K) and beyond. Those unfamiliar with software development struggle to understand why something as simple as the representation of the year, a four digit number comprehended by most kindergarten children, can wreak such havoc on software. Given software's difficulty in handling the Y2K issue, it is even more amazing that brand new computer programming languages like Java can help accomplish such feats as bringing color images back from a small toy-like rover on Mars and allow them to be displayed on our PCs at home a few minutes later.

Many people think the Y2K problem is a one-time occurrence in the history of software. This is not at all so. Some other similar software problems include:

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