Y2K--Ticking TIme Bomb

A detailed Summary of Y2K--Ticking TIme Bomb

Almost everyone has heard the term "Y2k", but most have no clue what it means. This research paper will explain what it means, what is to blame, and possible effects the problem could have in the future. Although the issue seems a simple, even pointless one on the surface, once examined, you can discover many separate causes and implications and how widespread this problem actually is.

The genuine meaning of the Year 2000 Bug also known as Y2k (Y representing "Year", "k" stands for thousand), or Millennium Time Bomb is simple to understand. It represents the computer's inability to differentiate between the years 2000 and 1900. It can be explained like this: when the year part of a date is expressed using two digits, as is the standard in computing, the possible year value ranges from 00 to 99. When humans add 1 to 99, they will get the answer of 100. However, if you tell a computer to do the same thing in the space of 2 digits, it will come up with either 0 or 00. If you take the date 3/19/99 and tell the computer to add 1 to the year part, the result would look like 3/19/00. To us humans, the date will suggest that the year is 2000, but to a computer the year will be interpreted as 1900. This is where the problem sta

Back when hard drive space was expensive in the 60's and 70's, it was important to cut down on the amount of stored data in an application. Character storage space was cut, as well as numeric storage space, and dates were too. At the time it was considered uneconomical to store the full four digits of a year, when only the two-digit year part was actually needed. Programs were able to continue processing dates as normal without ever understanding the concept of a century.

Software generally runs forever unless it is stopped if something turns it off or its operating environment changes and the software can't operate, like the date going passed the specified range. Even if it's environment changed, the application might still ignore the error and keep processing information that is wrong, until it is stopped.

An example of what could happen due to the date malfunction is how a finance company might withdraw money from a client's account over a 5-year period, to pay back a loan. If the payments started on 9/10/99 and was to end on 9/10/04, the computer might interpret that as September 9, 1904 and immediately stop taking money from the client's account, thinking the expiry date of the loan has passed. This could also work the other way for a company such as a power supplier, where a computer could falsely calculate bills to be 100 years outstanding.

Even as storage space became less expensive and there wasn't a need to write a 2-digit year, programs were still written which still used this format. Partly out of habit, and partly out of the need for compatibility with existing applications. Also, when we think about it, when is it necessary to write the full 4-digit year? Here is where laziness was involved. Cheques,

Some common words found in the essay are:
Millennium Bomb, Air Force, Air Force's, , Bug Y2k, storage space, space expensive, money client's account, add 1, lines code, 2 digits, money client's, client's account, home appliances, tell computer,

Approximate Word count = 1176
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science