3 ms·
Wha? Can somebody explain to a non-programmer now one character can "flip" in a computer and become another one? Is this quite common?
by 0898 6y ago
Wha? Can somebody explain to a non-programmer now one character can "flip" in a computer and become another one? Is this quite common?
- astrea 6y agoRAM (the temporary memory where your operating system, programs, etc are stored) stores bits as charge in a capacitor. Now this is where my understanding falls apart, so I'm going to take an educated guess and hope someone smarter corrects me: Random energy from thermal heat or stray cosmic particles can cause these bits to leak from the capacitor or for an extra charge be thrown into the wire as the data gets transmitted.
- Retric 6y agoIt’s extremely common over time, but rare for any one calculation. This is why ECC memory is so useful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAM_parity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAM_parity