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November 15, 2009

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We must ‘leap’ into year 2000

Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2000 | 9:18 a.m.

The general rule, as we all know is that leap years occur in years divisible by four. But it is easy to get mired in exceptions for the general rule. Specifically, one exception is that double-zero, or centuries, are not leap years. If a programmer or printer, for example, latched on to that there could be trouble. However, there is another exception whereby centuries divisible by 400 -- including 2000 -- are leap years. One can easily see where just enough information can get one into big trouble!

Many of the battery of routines to prove a system is "Y2K compliant" included checking for this unlikely error, but this is certainly something to be on the lookout for.

RICHARD E. LAW

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