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whizzter • today at 12:20 PM • 2 replies • view on HN

Automatic conversion using "global" state between "local"/"human" time (5pm where I am now) and points in time (ie with timezone) is one of the biggest sins imho for many libraries/db's/languages. Ran into it a bunch of times using C# as well.


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layer8 • today at 2:31 PM

It made sense when databases and programs were used almost exclusively locally. It still makes sense for local apps (e.g. local-first or local-only smartphone and desktop apps) who typically will automatically do the right thing that way based on the OS regional settings.

It only started causing widespread issues with the rise of cross-region internet SaaS. Database systems, language runtimes, and OS APIs are keeping the default behavior for backwards compatibility.

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reactordev • today at 1:06 PM

The two most difficult things in software engineering...

Naming.

Timestamps.

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