One of the big jokes among people who manage scientific datasets goes like this:
The great thing about standards is … there are so many to choose from!
Ba-dum-bum crash!
While this one liner may never make it to late-night TV, there is much truth to it. Many “standards” exist, and many more are invented each month to accommodate the special needs of new types of data or new software for processing data.
One standard, however, stands far above other options and should always be adopted: ISO 8601– the international standard for representing dates and times.
Continue reading “Standard Dates”
Working With Data 