CodyIT@programming.dev to Programmer Humor@programming.dev · 2 months agothe beautiful codeprogramming.devexternal-linkmessage-square158fedilinkarrow-up1269arrow-down11
arrow-up1268arrow-down1external-linkthe beautiful codeprogramming.devCodyIT@programming.dev to Programmer Humor@programming.dev · 2 months agomessage-square158fedilink
minus-squareAmberskin@europe.publinkfedilinkarrow-up3·2 months agoJust to boast my old timer credentials. There is an utility program in IBM’s mainframe operating system, z/OS, that has been there since the 60s. It has just one assembly code instruction: a BR 14, which means basically ‘return’. The first version was bugged and IBM had to issue a PTF (patch) to fix it.
minus-squareDaPorkchop_@lemmy.mllinkfedilinkarrow-up1·2 months agoOkay, you can’t just drop that bombshell without elaborating. What sort of bug could exist in a program which contains a single return instruction?!?
minus-squareAmberskin@europe.publinkfedilinkarrow-up1·2 months agoIt didn’t clear the return code. In mainframe jobs, successful executions are expected to return zero (in the machine R15 register). So in this case fixing the bug required to add an instruction instead of removing one.
Just to boast my old timer credentials.
There is an utility program in IBM’s mainframe operating system, z/OS, that has been there since the 60s.
It has just one assembly code instruction: a BR 14, which means basically ‘return’.
The first version was bugged and IBM had to issue a PTF (patch) to fix it.
Okay, you can’t just drop that bombshell without elaborating. What sort of bug could exist in a program which contains a single return instruction?!?
It didn’t clear the return code. In mainframe jobs, successful executions are expected to return zero (in the machine R15 register).
So in this case fixing the bug required to add an instruction instead of removing one.