fencepost
9.3
An error in counting in code that makes you include or miss the last item
- noun
- /ˈfɛnsˌpoʊst/
- Jargon
:
error de conteo
- The programmer was frustrated when his calculations led to a fencepost error in the final count.
Examples
-
When she counted the votes, a fencepost error caused her to miscalculate the winning candidate.
-
During the meeting, he explained how a fencepost error had affected the project's timeline.
-
Fencepost error.
Blog text (20)
Synonyms
oversight
vsfencepost
30
4.7
A small mistake that someone does not notice
is a technical counting mistake caused by endpoint inclusion confusion
1
3.8
A mistake in computer code that makes software behave wrongly
is a narrow counting error caused by wrong inclusion of endpoints
6.9
An error in a program's logic that makes it give wrong results even when the code runs without errors
is a specific counting mistake about including or excluding endpoints
How Serious
Surface Forms
fencepost singular
fenceposts plural
Morphology
Etymology
Fencepost used for a counting mistake comes from the image of counting the posts on a fence instead of the spaces between them. A helpful way to remember a fencepost error is that counting posts or counting gaps gives different numbers, so you can be 'off by one', which is why people who write computer programs use the name.