Re:Never write your own date parsing library
by bigstrat2003 on Friday July 25, 2025 @11:45PM
(#44691146)
I think that advice makes sense in the context of cryptography, where the consequences for getting it wrong can be quite serious indeed. I don't think it holds true for something as unimportant as a date parsing library.
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Correct date handling (including parsing) can be monumentally important. Imagine an app that reminds people when to take their medications, for example
You typically take medication at a set time every day. You don’t need to parse dates for that.
Re:Never write your own date parsing library
by poink on Saturday July 26, 2025 @01:04AM
(#44691487)
1) Dates are often stored as strings, so parsing them correctly is a necessary component of storing them. Also, those dates need not be simple app state. They could come from an API provided by your doctor/pharmacy
2) Many people (especially the elderly) take enough medications on different schedules that managing them all would be a significant cognitive load for anyone
It’s just an illustrative example, though. My point is getting dates right (including parsing their string representations) often matters quite a bit. If you disagree, let’s argue about that rather than quibble about the minutiae of the example