Unix Timestamp Converter helps developers quickly convert between epoch time and human-readable dates. With live timestamp display and common time shortcuts, it's perfect for debugging APIs, analyzing logs, and handling database time fields.
What is Unix Timestamp?
Unix timestamp (epoch time) counts the seconds since January 1, 1970 00:00:00 UTC (the Unix Epoch). This simple integer representation is unambiguous regardless of timezone, making it the standard for storing and transmitting time data in computer systems.
Seconds vs Milliseconds
- Seconds (10 digits): Standard Unix timestamp, e.g., 1703980800 represents 2023-12-31 00:00:00 UTC
- Milliseconds (13 digits): JavaScript and some APIs use milliseconds, e.g., 1703980800000
- This tool automatically detects the format based on the number of digits
Why Use Timestamps?
Timestamps avoid timezone ambiguity - 1703980800 means the same moment everywhere, while '2023-12-31 08:00' depends on which timezone. They're also easy to compare and calculate: checking if one time is after another is a simple numeric comparison, and adding hours is just arithmetic. Database storage and sorting is more efficient with integers than with date strings.
FAQ
Q: What is Epoch and why 1970?
A: The Unix Epoch (January 1, 1970 00:00:00 UTC) was chosen when Unix was being developed in the early 1970s. It was a round number, recent enough for practical use, and far enough back to handle historical dates. 32-bit timestamps starting from this epoch could represent dates up to 2038.
Q: What is the Year 2038 problem?
A: 32-bit signed integers overflow on January 19, 2038 at 03:14:07 UTC when the timestamp reaches 2,147,483,647. This is similar to Y2K but for timestamps. Most modern systems have already migrated to 64-bit timestamps which can represent dates billions of years into the future.
Q: How do I get the current timestamp in code?
A: JavaScript: Date.now() (milliseconds) or Math.floor(Date.now()/1000) (seconds). Python: import time; time.time(). PHP: time(). Unix shell: date +%s. These all return seconds except JavaScript which uses milliseconds by default.