Heisenbug

Heisenbug is a term used in software programming to describe a computer bug that disappears or alters its characteristics when it is researched. A common example are bugs that occur in a release-mode compile of a program but do not occur when researched under debug-mode, or some bugs caused by a race condition. The name is a pun on the physics term "Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle", which is popularly believed to refer to the way observers affect the observed in quantum mechanics.

See also: Bohr bug[?], mandelbug[?], schroedinbug[?]