2. Why do we have this
problem?
In the 1940s & 50s, there was
limited space on 40 and 80-column punch cards. In the 1970s,
computer memory was
very expensive. Conserving just two bytes per
record in memory (the "19" of 1975, for example) allowed software
developers to be more efficient and save millions of dollars for
their companies. These programming practices continued because the
turn-of-the-century seemed far in the future. Good programming
practice now calls for year 2000 aware date-handling methods, but
many programsùparticularly older or custom onesùmust be assessed to
determine their readiness for the year 2000.
Another source
of the problem is sociologicalùthe everyday tendency for people to
use two-digit
shortcuts to indicate the calendar year. As a
result, many computer users have included two-digit date shortcuts
(for example, 98 for 1998) throughout their documents and
spreadsheets.
This seemingly innocent and timesaving practice is another major
cause of the year 2000 issue.
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