Timezone Conversion

Timezone conversion is essential for global coordination and scheduling.

Key concepts

• UTC: Coordinated Universal Time (reference timezone).
• Offset: Hours/minutes ahead (+) or behind (-) UTC.
• DST: Daylight Saving Time (seasonal offset changes).
• IANA database: Canonical timezone names (America/New_York).

Common challenges

• Daylight saving transitions vary by region and year.
• Some regions don't observe DST.
• Historical timezone data changes.
• Political boundaries change timezone definitions.

Best practices

• Always store times in UTC in databases.
• Convert to local timezone only for display.
• Use IANA timezone names, not abbreviations (EST vs America/New_York).
• Account for DST transitions in scheduling.
• Test edge cases (DST transitions, leap seconds).