The year 2000 brought about one of the largest concerns in IT history. The Y2K problem was the result of old computer programming practices which prevented systems from working properly at precisely January 1, 2000 and the following dates. Since only the last two significant digits were considered in computer systems, it was believed that the year 2000 or 00 would be interpreted as the year 1900. The looming threat caused widespread panic among several nations, and caused several billion dollars worth of preparation. Although there were no significant computer failures that new years’ day, it is questionable that this was a result of the preparations made, or that it was just a hoax.
This programming practice responsible for the Y2K threat started during the early years of computing when memory was expensive and data processing was in the form of punch cards. Because of the limitations at the time, saving up to 2 digits per date was significant though disregarding future programming bugs. Apparently, the money saved in minimizing memory would be spent in preparing for an impending disaster, which was said to have reached 300 million US Dollars.
As the year 1999 was approaching, several businesses started making software systems “Y2K compliant”, which proved to have many long term benefits. Although there was a real threat, it was often misunderstood and blown out of proportion. A lot of people imagined an Armageddon when computer systems started going haywire, and some even imagined a time of darkness once the clocks ticked midnight of January 1, 2000. Several incidents were also reported of people stocking up on food and supplies in supermarkets all over America, among other countries. One main benefit though from the preparation for Y2K is the more conscious practice of backing up databases. Since redundant networks have been created, systems are now less susceptible to failures and crashes. The effects of the Millennium bug were totally misinterpreted. Although records and databases would have problems with date processing, utilities and manual processes did not rely on computer systems. Before the year 2000, many companies relied on computer systems but not all processes were dependent on system dates. This means that the world would not be on a standstill because of date processing, but it was a problem that could have been solved with less exasperation.
Some people viewed the date to be a time bomb set for complete computer system failure. Until today, it is obvious what the misinformed public is capable of. Anything misunderstood can be blown out of proportion once digested by society. At the time, what did it actually mean to be Y2K compliant? This demands that the programs should require a century indicator on all dates that it receives and produces, leap years will be determined correctly, all hard-coding in century fields and date fields has been removed or prohibited, and that applications that interface with other applications or that import or export dates do not alter the date settings of other software. Knowing this, good programming practices from the start would have gone a long way although costing a lot more.
Once the new millennium arrived, there were very few reports of system failures. Since minor failures are common in every computer system, most minor errors were dismissed. Efforts by large companies were rewarded, but there are still speculations if these efforts were really necessary. What would have happened if the Y2K problem was ignored?Some may believe that nothing serious would have happened because the dates, but taking certain precautions is never a bad thing. In my opinion, much more might have been spent if the threat was allowed to unfold. Lack of foresight was the main problem in computer systems, and any system for that matter.
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