From: khaines@...
Date: 2006-10-07T12:21:43+09:00
Subject: Re: In the year 2525

On Sat, 7 Oct 2006, David Vallner wrote:

> Jim v. Tess wrote:
>> Is there a reason why Time.local can't handle dates beyond 2038?  I know
>> that's when the number of second since 1970 exceeds 2^32, but can't a
>> big, strong language like Ruby handle it?
>>
>
> Because it uses the underlying platform's time manipulation functions?

Yes.

> Mebbe hack around the issue by providing Ruby replacements for large
> timestamps? Then again, maybe that's what the Date / DateTime classes
> do. Buggered if I know, I could never remember which one did what.

Yes.  DateTime uses Rational to represent time.  1 represents a day, not a 
second.  It can be used with arbitrary dates well outside the range of 
Time, but it is MUCH slower.  Use Time everywhere one can.


Kirk Haines