My professor told us about this funny story, and I did search at google to get the whole thing. I found it pretty funny, thought I would share it.
CARELESS CODE RECYCLING CAUSES KILLER KANGAS
Mutant Marsupials Take Up Arms Against Australian Air Force
The reuse of some object-oriented code has caused tactical
headaches for Australia's armed forces. As virtual reality
simulators assume larger roles in helicopter combat training,
programmers have gone to great lengths to increase the realism of
their scenarios, including detailed landscapes and - in the case
of the Northern Territory's Operation Phoenix- herds of kangaroos
(since disturbed animals might well give away a helicopter's
position).
The head of the Defense Science & Technology Organization's Land
Operations/Simulation division reportedly instructed developers
to model the local marsupials' movements and reactions to
helicopters.
Being efficient programmers, they just re-appropriated some code
originally used to model infantry detachment reactions under the
same stimuli, changed the mapped icon from a soldier to a
kangaroo, and increased the figures' speed of movement.
Eager to demonstrate their flying skills for some visiting
American pilots, the hotshot Aussies "buzzed" the virtual
kangaroos in low flight during a simulation. The kangaroos
scattered, as predicted, and the visiting Americans nodded
appreciatively... then did a double-take as the kangaroos
reappeared from behind a hill and launched a barrage of Stinger
missiles at the hapless helicopter.
(Apparently the programmers had forgotten to remove that part of
the infantry coding.)
The lesson?
Objects are defined with certain attributes, and any new object
defined in terms of an old one inherits all the attributes. The
embarrassed programmers had learned to be careful when reusing
object-oriented code, and the Yanks left with a newfound respect
for Australian wildlife.
Simulator supervisors report that pilots from that point onward
have strictly avoided kangaroos, just as they were meant to
