Fergie's Tech Blog

The bug in daylight savings time?

Stacy Cowley writes in InfoWorld:

A new law that extends daylight savings time (DST) by four weeks means programmers will once again need to check their software code for potential problems in handling a calendar adjustment.

The measure, approved as part of energy legislation this summer, would shift the start of DST from April back to March--and move its end from October to November--most likely beginning in 2007. Those extra four weeks will save energy--the equivalent of 100,000 barrels of oil a day, according to legislators backing the change. But it may also trip up applications and gadgets programmed to automatically handle DST hours based on the schedule the United States has kept for nearly two decades.

Summer time changes, observed in patchwork fashion around the world, have always been an annoyance for programmers and systems administrators: Online support groups are full of work-arounds and suggestions for DST-related glitches.

posted by Fergie @ 9/19/2005 05:33:00 PM