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Michaël Ménaché
5,261 PointsWhy turn local_date into utc_date? Since local_date is already aware, shouldn't using local_date return the same result?
In the video, local_date (which is already aware) is turned into a UTC date called utc_date. Then utc_date is used display the meeting time in other timezones.
What's the added value of using the utc_time? If local_time is aware, can't we use it as it, without converting it as a utc_time?
1 Answer
Kenneth Love
Treehouse Guest TeacherYou can, yes, but it's usually cleaner and faster to convert from UTC time. Think of it like having a clean, common base for all of your classes or a stable, sane base template to extend all of your other templates from. Every timezone is defined by its offset from UTC, so converting from UTC to a given timezone is just plus or minus some amount of hours (and minutes for a few special places). Converting from a local timezone, though, usually requires moving back to UTC and then moving to the new timezone.
Michaël Ménaché
5,261 PointsMichaël Ménaché
5,261 PointsHi Kenneth, thanks for the super quick reply! I think I get the idea of having a clean reference... But I'm still puzzled by "Converting from a local timezone, though, usually requires moving back to UTC and then moving to the new timezone." Why is that? Isn't not bothering knowing what is the time difference between location X and location Y part of the advantage of using pytz and having an aware datetime? It sounds like local => UTC => new timezone is an extra step and pytz can do local => new timezone directly.
Bah, in any case I'll happily follow your teaching. It's just that... I'm French, so I can't help but insist on details.
Kenneth Love
Treehouse Guest TeacherKenneth Love
Treehouse Guest TeacherIIRC, pytz is doing local -> UTC -> target timezone behind the scenes. If I know that timezone A is +5 and timezone B is -2, even though I'd do -7 to timezone A to get it to timezone B, I'm also, really, doing -5 and then -2. And since we have to deal with the International Date Line, too, and current observation of daylight saving time, it's just easier to jump to UTC, which is a known quantity, and then jump to the new timezone.