from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
schroedinbug
/shroh'din.buhg/, n.
[MIT: from the Schroedinger's Cat thought-experiment in quantum
physics] A design or implementation bug in a program that doesn't
manifest until someone reading source or using the program in an
unusual way notices that it never should have worked, at which point
the program promptly stops working for everybody until fixed. Though
(like {bit rot}) this sounds impossible, it happens; some programs
have harbored latent schroedinbugs for years. Compare {heisenbug},
{Bohr bug}, {mandelbug}.
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
schroedinbug
<jargon, programming> /shroh'din-buhg/ ({MIT}, from the
Schroedinger's Cat thought-experiment in quantum physics) A
design or implementation {bug} in a program that doesn't
manifest until someone reading source or using the program in
an unusual way notices that it never should have worked, at
which point the program promptly stops working for everybody
until fixed. Though (like {bit rot}) this sounds impossible,
it happens; some programs have harboured latent schroedinbugs
for years.
Compare {heisenbug}, {Bohr bug}, {mandelbug}.
[{Jargon File}]
(1995-02-28)