WebAssembly / WebAssembly/WASI
Clarify whether `now` excludes leap seconds
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P-clocks
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Description
The documentation of now says
/// The returned timestamps represent the number of seconds since
/// 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z, also known as [POSIX's Seconds Since the Epoch],
/// also known as [Unix Time].
But those things are in contradiction: Unix time is currently 37 seconds behind the number of seconds since 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z.
This should be clarified, probably by adding "excluding leap seconds" to the description.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start in wit/wall-clock.wit at the documented now definition, especially lines 28–30, and review how the POSIX and Unix Time references describe leap seconds. Clarify the timestamp definition so the documentation is internally consistent, then verify the edited wording in the surrounding WIT documentation.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Domain
- documentation
- Issue type
- Documentation
- Difficulty
- 1/5
- Estimated time
- Under an hour
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Clearly specified
- Newbie friendliness
- 68/100