fencepost problem

English

Etymology

By analogy with fence-building. If one wants to say "lay a fencepost, then a length of fence, then repeat", then a special case must be made for the final fencepost. If one wants to say "lay a length of fence, then a fencepost, then repeat", then a special case must be made for the initial fencepost.

Pronunciation

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Noun

fencepost problem (plural fencepost problems)

1. (programming) A problem dealing with how to treat the initial or boundary values of a discrete problem.

See also

• off-by-one error