Date and time notation

Date and time notation around the world varies.

Countries have adopted differing standards, software maker use different standards, people in daily life use different standards.

An approach to harmonize the different notations is the ISO 8601. (See also ISO 8601 usage)

Since the internet is a main enabler of communication between people with different date notation background, and software is used to facilitate the communication, RFC standards were developped.

• RFC 822 "Standard for the Format of Arpa Internet Text Messages" (format: [day ,] 20 Jun 82 14:01:17)
  • e.g. used for email
• RFC 3339 "Date and Time on the Internet: Timestamps" intended use: new internet protocols, published July 2002 (format: 1982-06-20)

See also

• Date and time notation by country