🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <33d3784f.62565572@nntp.peg.apc.org>, peterb@gebesse.com.au wrote:

>>>My PC's clock has no trouble rolling over to 0:00:00 Sat 01-01-2000
>>
>>Yeah, but does it recognise 29 February 2000 as a valid date ?  And does it 
>>also correctly NOT identify 29 February 2001 as a valid date (don't laugh, 
>>some computers don't pass this test) ?
>
>Mine does. Plain old Intel box with Win95.
>
>The problem is not an operating system issue - it is a programming
>issue. You can write cruddy date routines in all sorts of languages.

Yes, you can write bad date software in any language.  But most `modern'
operating systems, and lots of old ones, include APIs for manipulating
dates.  In the MacOS, application programs that use the MacOS APIs for
handling dates get many benefits including easier localisation.  I expect
the same is true in Windows 95.  The standard C library has included a
date/time abstract data type for years, and most Unix implementations, um,
implement it. 

Your plain old intel box running, say, MS-DOS 3.1, probably would not have
passed the test.  On the other hand, application programs of that era
would have been more likely to have bypassed the MS-DOS date/time handling
facilities to provide themselves something more flexible.

Of course it's a programming issue - but it's an operating systems issue
too, since OSes include (and sometimes are) sets of programs.  

...dav

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mailto:dvincent@zeta.org.au       D A Vincent   speaking for myself only.
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                "Truth suffers from too much analysis."