"HCF" ("Halt and Catch Fire") is from one of a number of lists of humourous assembly command mnemonics. Others are "BrH" ("Branch and Hang" and "DWIM" ("Do What I Meant"). {DWIM, if it existed, would be the single most useful programming command ever.} HCF refers to a computer machine code instruction that causes the computer's central processing unit (CPU) to cease meaningful operation, typically requiring a restart of the computer.

Featured in Silicon Cowboys (2016)