3 ms·
Afaik this is so that you can go back in time before epoch (less than 0)
by CableNinja 3y ago
Afaik this is so that you can go back in time before epoch (less than 0)
- avgcorrection 3y agoThen why not start the epoch however far back they thought they need to go back? Maybe a naive question.
- School-Cotton 3y agoWhether you make 0 be in 1902 and use an unsigned type, or make 0 be in 1970 and use a signed type, the range of representable dates is the same.
- avgcorrection 3y agoSure. But (and what I should have added) I don't think they would need to go back that far. But you're right, you can get the same results with both.
- School-Cotton 3y agoAs others have pointed out in the thread, it was already not enough to represent the dates of birth of plenty of people who were still alive in 1970.
- avgcorrection 3y agoGood point. :)
- arcticbull 3y agoYou may need an arbitrary distance back in time, so really any epoch is as good as any other. So if you're going to pick arbitrarily, zero around where most numbers are going to be when you set the standard seems to make sense.