[Zope3-dev] Re: date parsing: explicit is better

Steve Alexander steve@cat-box.net
Fri, 22 Nov 2002 15:27:09 +0000


> I have no over view over all date formats but does not the usage of 
> dots inside the date mean DD.MM.YYYY and not MM.DD.YYYY. In
> understanding the US notation with '-' implies MM-DD-YYYY. But I am
> not sure if this right :)

That's a very subtle distinction. I'd call that a very subtle form of 
explicitness ;-)

I have seen British dates written with "/", "." and "-" as separators, 
in order from most common to least common.

I would much rather see an explicit API than rely on the use of a 
particular separator. Specifically, I don't think 11-05-2002 is 
necessarily the same date as 05.11.2002. It all depends on locale and 
conventions.

--
Steve Alexander