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

Guido van Rossum guido@python.org
Wed, 27 Feb 2002 21:39:10 -0500 
>     Guido> Proposal for internal representation (also the basis for an
>     Guido> efficient pickle format):
> 
>     Guido> year  2 bytes, big-endian, unsigned (0 .. 65535)
>     ...
>     Guido> - Why is the year unsigned?  So memcmp() will do the right thing
>     Guido>   for comparing dates (in the same timezone).
> 
> So the earliest year it can represent is 1BC (or does year == 0 represent
> some other base year)?

Correct.

> One of MAL's desires were that he could use the abstract interface /F
> defined and remain binary compatible with the current mxDateTime layout.
> Will your layout work for him?

My layout is incompatible with that of mxDateTime, but this is not
supposed to be /F's abstract interface -- this is supposed to be one
implementation of it, mxDateTime can be another.

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)