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[Python-Dev] proposal: add basic time type to the standard library

Kevin Jacobs jacobs@penguin.theopalgroup.com
Wed, 27 Feb 2002 10:11:56 -0500 (EST) 
On Wed, 27 Feb 2002, M.-A. Lemburg wrote:
> SQL databases don't deal with leap seconds. They store
> the broken down value (in some way) without time zone information
> and that's it, fortunately :-)

Er...  SQL99 (and I believe SQL92) have native support for time with and
without time zones, and neither say nothing about how databases are to
"store" those values.  I don't have a copy in front of me, so I can't tell
you what they say about leap-seconds.  Of course, few implementations
support this yet, though it worth being forward-looking.

For my own uses, I have a base time class that encapsulates either
mxDateTime objects or unix time-since-epoch, and implements the basic time
and date accessors and simple arithmetic.  A subclass of that type then adds
awareness of timezones and daylight savings time.  My first effort at trying
to do all of those things in one big monolithic class was a nightmare.  This
layering does result in some (relative) inefficiency, but correctness and
maintainability is vastly more important to me.

-Kevin

--
Kevin Jacobs
The OPAL Group - Enterprise Systems Architect
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