Year 2038 problem

The year 2038 problem (also known as Y2038, Y2K38, Y2K38 superbug or the Epochalypse) is a time formatting bug in computer systems with representing times after 03:14:07 UTC on 19 January 2038. The problem exists in systems which measure Unix time – the number of seconds elapsed since the Unix epoch (00:00:00 UTC on 1 January 1970) – and store it in a signed 32-bit integer. The data type is only capable of representing integers between −(2^31) and 231 − 1, meaning the latest time that can be properly encoded is 2^31 − 1 seconds after epoch (03:14:07 UTC on 19 January 2038). Attempting to increment to the following second (03:14:08) will cause the integer to overflow, setting its value to −(2^31) which systems will interpret as 2^31 seconds before epoch (20:45:52 UTC on 13 December 1901). The problem is similar in nature to the year 2000 problem. Computer systems that use time for critical computations may encounter fatal errors if the Y2038 problem is not addressed. Some applications that use future dates have already encountered the bug. The most vulnerable systems are those which are infrequently or never updated, such as legacy and embedded systems. There is no universal solution to the problem, though many modern systems have been upgraded to measure Unix time with signed 64-bit integers which will not overflow for 292 billion years—approximately 21 times the estimated age of the universe. Many computer systems measure time and date as Unix time, an international standard for digital timekeeping. Unix time is defined as the number of seconds elapsed since 00:00:00 UTC on 1 January 1970 (an arbitrarily chosen time), which has been dubbed the Unix epoch. Unix time has historically been encoded as a signed 32-bit integer, a data type composed of 32 binary digits (bits) which represent an integer value, with 'signed' meaning that the number is stored in Two's complement format. Thus, a signed 32-bit integer can only represent integer values from −(2^31) to 231 − 1 inclusive.