What is the Year 2038 problem?
Q: What is the Year 2038 problem?
A: The Year 2038 problem is a computer issue that could affect computers that store time as the number of seconds since 1st January 1970 at 00:00 UTC, using a 32-bit number.
Q: What is the significance of 2,147,483,647 seconds?
A: This is the biggest number that can be stored as the number of seconds since 1st January 1970 at 00:00 UTC using a 32-bit number.
Q: When will the Year 2038 problem begin?
A: The problem will begin one second after 19th January 2038 at 03:14:07 UTC.
Q: What happens when the computer adds 1 to the 32-bit number after 19th January 2038 at 03:14:07 UTC?
A: The computer will set the value to negative 2,147,483,648 seconds, which means 13th December 1901 at 20:45:52 UTC.
Q: What could happen to a computer that hasn't been reprogrammed before 2038?
A: Depending on how the computer has been programmed, it could behave incorrectly or even stop running.
Q: What is a solution to the Year 2038 problem?
A: A solution to the Year 2038 problem is to store the time in a 64-bit value, which will work for billions of years.
Q: Do many computers already store the time in a 64-bit number?
A: Yes, many computers already store the time in a 64-bit number.
