What Does 'Abend (Abnormal End)' Mean?

Abend is short for “abnormal end.” In the context of computers and software, an “abend” is an abnormal termination of a program or process. It can be caused by a variety of factors, such as a software bug, an error in the system or hardware, or a problem with data input or output.

When an abend occurs, the program or process will stop executing and may generate an error message or other notification to indicate that an issue has occurred. In some cases, an abend may cause a system or application to crash, while in others it may simply cause the program or process to terminate without affecting other parts of the system.

More information

The term “abend” originated in the IBM OS/360 operating system, which was first released in the 1960s. In this system, the term “abend” was used as an error code to indicate that a program or process had terminated abnormally. The term “abend” became widely used in the computer industry and is still commonly used today to refer to an abnormal termination of a program or process.

In modern systems, the term “abend” is often used in conjunction with specific error codes or messages that provide more information about the cause of the abnormal termination.