Examples of Programming Gone Wrong?

Posted by Cliff on Sunday October 27, 2002 @06:43AM from the oops! dept.

LightForce3 asks: "I'm a beginning CS student, and in my studies I've come across examples of programmer error causing very large problems, such as the Ariane 5 failure and the Therac-25 accidents, often as tales of caution to beginner programmers such as myself. My (morbid?) curiosity has been piqued, and I'm looking for other examples of programmer error leading to serious problems. After all, it is better to learn from the mistakes of others than from your own, right? ;) What programming-related accidents, incidents, and failures, both well-known and obscure, do Slashdot readers know about, and are there any good resources for researching these?"

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Win32 API by InSaNiAcK · 2002-10-27 06:48 · Score: 0, Flamebait

The Win32 API must be the most flawed piece of programming to ever rear its ugly head at the vast majority of computer users in the world. *shudder*
the harrr-rrrrror by jarcher · 2002-10-27 06:54 · Score: 0, Flamebait

Mars Lander and Orbiter
US shooting down Airbus 320
London Ambulance Service unavailable
Therac-25 overdosinf cancer patients

and not's count the lives lost in terms of hours wasted waiting for Windows to reboot ;P
Why this cant be right... by rufusdufus · 2002-10-27 08:00 · Score: 2, Flamebait

To increase altitude in an aircraft, you add power, not pull up. Pulling up slows the aircraft down and decreases altitude.