Etymology

heisenbug

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Today it means: A software bug which fails to manifest itself or manifests differently during debugging. Full definition →

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The story

(ca. 1983) Blend of Heisenberg + bug. Named for the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which states very roughly that any attempt to measure the position of a subatomic particle will disrupt its movement, making it harder to predict.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.