What is a UNIX Timestamp?
A UNIX Timestamp (Unix Epoch) represents the total number of seconds (or milliseconds) that have elapsed since January 1, 1970 00:00:00 UTC. It is an absolute, geographical-independent physical point in time.
3 Common Timestamp Mistakes in Web Development
#### 1. 10-Digit (Seconds) vs 13-Digit (Milliseconds) Confusion
- Backend languages (such as Python, PHP, and Go) often return 10-digit second timestamps (e.g.,
1723872000). - JavaScript (
Date.now()) natively expects 13-digit millisecond timestamps (e.g.,1723872000000). - Common Bug: Passing a 10-digit timestamp directly to
new Date(timestamp)will mistakenly evaluate the year as 1970! Always multiply by 1,000 first.
#### 2. Local Time vs UTC Serialization
When transmitting datetime strings across APIs without timezone offsets (e.g., "2026-08-17 12:00:00"), clients in different time zones will parse different moments in time.
- Best Practice: Always serialize datetime values using ISO 8601 UTC format (
"2026-08-17T04:00:00.000Z") or raw epoch numbers.
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