Glossary » error

error

(human error) the result of any action whose consequences are not what was intended by the person performing the action. Errors are commonly classified as slips (automatic processes interfering with an action) or mistakes (failures in reasoning or selection of subgoals). Minimization of errors is a frequent design goal and often trades off with the speed at which tasks can be performed.

(computer error) a situation in which the computer cannot proceed through the normal or expected course of a task because of a bug in the software, an incorrect piece of code that doesn’t properly handle unexpected inputs or performs its calculations incorrectly. In this situation, a system typically produces an error message for the user, and the program may either fail or enter an error-recovery process to enable to continue working despite an individual failed task.