Unix Timestamp Blog
Detailed guides on Unix timestamps, epoch time, timezone handling, JavaScript Date, database storage choices, and the production bugs caused by time conversions.
Linux Time Converter: Unix date Command Guide
Use Linux date commands to convert Unix timestamps fast: epoch to date, date to epoch, current Unix time, milliseconds, UTC output, TZ-based local time, and macOS/BSD equivalents.
Read article →End of 2026 Unix Timestamp: 1798761600 (and Why Not 1798761599)
Two timestamps sit at the boundary between 2026 and 2027. 1798761600 is the start of 2027 — the half-open upper bound used in most date-range queries. 1798761599 is the last whole second of 2026. This guide explains which to use and shows the conversions in JavaScript, Python, shell, and SQL.
Read article →Start of 2027 Unix Timestamp: 1798761600 Explained
The Unix timestamp 1798761600 represents 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC, the start of 2027 in UTC. This guide shows the conversion, timezone implications, milliseconds form, and how to compute any year-start timestamp.
Read article →What Is UTC Time? Unix Timestamps, Offsets, and Conversion
UTC is the zero-offset time standard used to define the Unix epoch. A Unix timestamp is always counted from 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC; timezone only changes how that same instant is displayed.
Read article →Current Unix Timestamp: Get Epoch Time Now in Code
The current Unix timestamp is “now” counted from 1970-01-01 UTC. Use date +%s on Linux, Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) in JavaScript, int(time.time()) in Python, or UNIX_TIMESTAMP() in MySQL; use milliseconds only when your API expects 13 digits.
Read article →Date to Epoch: Convert Time or Datetime to Unix Timestamp
To convert a date to epoch, choose the timezone for the wall-clock value, parse it as a real instant, then output Unix seconds or milliseconds. UTC is safest for APIs and logs; local business time is better for billing days or schedules.
Read article →Epoch Converter Guide: Choose the Right Tool and Avoid Wrong Dates
Use an epoch converter by choosing the direction first: epoch to date when you have a number, date to epoch when you have a calendar time. Then check the unit (seconds vs milliseconds) and the display zone (UTC vs local) before copying the result.
Read article →Epoch Milliseconds to Date — Convert 13-Digit Timestamps
A 13-digit timestamp is usually epoch milliseconds. Convert it to a date by passing it directly to JavaScript Date, Java Instant.ofEpochMilli, or .NET FromUnixTimeMilliseconds; in Python, SQL, and many Unix tools, divide by 1000 first because they expect Unix seconds.
Read article →Epoch Timestamp vs Unix Time vs POSIX Time
An epoch timestamp usually means Unix time: seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. POSIX time is the standards-defined version of the same count, while epoch timestamp is the broader phrase that can also describe other reference points or units.
Read article →Start of 2026 Unix Timestamp: 1767225600 Explained
The Unix timestamp 1767225600 represents 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC, the start of 2026 in UTC. This guide shows the conversion, timezone implications, milliseconds form, and how to compute any year-start timestamp.
Read article →Unix Time to Date: Convert Epoch to Time in Code
To convert Unix time to a date, first detect the unit: 10 digits means seconds, 13 means milliseconds, and 16 means microseconds. Decode the value as UTC, then format it in the timezone you need. Use the examples below or the epoch-to-date converter for a quick check.
Read article →Epoch Time Explained — What Is Unix Timestamp Zero?
Unix timestamp 0 is January 1, 1970 at 00:00:00 UTC — the moment Unix time begins. This guide explains why 1970 was chosen by the original Unix team at Bell Labs, how negative timestamps represent pre-1970 dates, the evolution from 32-bit signed time_t to 64-bit, how UTC and TAI handle leap seconds, the Year 2038 boundary, and the epochs other systems use (Windows FILETIME, .NET ticks, Mac Classic, Excel, GPS, NTP, J2000).
Read article →JavaScript Date.now() — Get and Convert Unix Timestamps
Date.now() returns the current Unix timestamp in milliseconds. This guide covers every common JavaScript timestamp pattern — Date.now() vs performance.now() vs Temporal, seconds-vs-milliseconds conversion, timezone-aware formatting with Intl.DateTimeFormat, safe parsing, sub-second precision, and the migration path from legacy Date to Temporal now that Temporal has shipped in Chrome 144, Firefox 139, and Node.js 26.
Read article →Milliseconds vs Seconds in Unix Timestamps
Use digit count first: modern Unix seconds are 10 digits, modern Unix milliseconds are 13 digits. Divide milliseconds by 1000 to get Unix seconds, multiply seconds by 1000 to get milliseconds, and suspect a unit bug when dates land in 1970 or the year 55,000.
Read article →10 Common Unix Timestamp Bugs and How to Fix Them
Ten timestamp mistakes that cause production incidents: silent unit mismatches, server-timezone assumptions, the forgotten × 1000, string storage, ambiguous parsing, DST boundary errors, cron skips, Date equality, and benchmarks on the wrong clock. Each bug has the symptom, root cause, fix, and a one-line detection recipe.
Read article →JavaScript Timezone Guide: UTC, IANA Zones, and Intl.DateTimeFormat
A JavaScript Date stores epoch milliseconds for one UTC-based instant; it does not store a timezone. Use toISOString() for UTC output, Intl.DateTimeFormat with an IANA timeZone for local display, and a timezone converter when you need wall-clock-to-wall-clock conversion.
Read article →How to Store Unix Timestamps in a Database (MySQL, Postgres, Mongo)
Choosing the wrong column type for timestamps leads to timezone drift, the Year 2038 overflow, broken range queries, and confusing API output. Compare native datetime types, BIGINT epoch values, and strings across MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MongoDB, Redis, DynamoDB, and time-series databases.
Read article →Latest articles
Practical articles on Unix timestamps, timezone handling in JavaScript, database storage strategies, and the timestamp bugs that quietly break production systems.