Schrödinbug definition
A schrödinbug is a software bug that only manifests after someone discovers it. Prior to the discovery, the application appears to work fine — but a close examination of the code (or experimentation with unusual settings) reveals that it should not have worked in the first place. Once developers become aware of the bug, the software begins to fail in the expected way.
The term “schrödinbug” is derived from the Schrödinger’s cat experiment, which posits that in quantum mechanics an object may be in two states (in this case, the cat being both alive and dead) until observed.
See also: secure software development lifecycle, bug fix, software bug, heisenbug, hindenbug
Schrödinbug incidence
Schrödinbugs are rare, typically only occurring in complex systems where unintended interactions between different parts of the code can mask the issue. The bug might be in an area of the program that, by coincidence, has never been triggered under typical conditions, or it might involve a subtle error that avoids causing observable problems.
When attempting to fix the latent problem, developers may run the code under different conditions, causing the schrödinbug to manifest. This may lead to ironic situations where developers willingly ignore flaws to avoid compromising a critical system’s stability — the system “works” for the time being, and any debugging attempts may lead to significant downtime.
