EuroPython 2025

It's All About Time ⏰ - What developers need to know about time
2025-07-18 , North Hall

This session is an overall spanning overview around the concept of time, in the context of programming.
I will enlighten you about the many pitfalls and general problems that we face when programming with relation to time.

Anyone who gives some thoughts about time may come to the initial conclusion that it's natural and easy to program with time in mind. But once you start digging into it - one might face many uncertain bumps in the roads and countless bugs with unnecessary unforeseen consequences.

We will talk about:
- Common misconceptions about time.
- Why and what we use time for in programming.
- Serialisation and representation of time.
- Best practices when communication about time. (OpenAPI specifications)
- The gist of Timezones and Daylight Savings.
- Special Relativity, and how time is about to get even weirder.
- What I would consider some best practices when coding time in python.

I hope that my talk will inspire and be a peek into the Pandora's box which is time - only we, together, can save the world from more time related bugs. Equipped with gained knowledge, I hope that you too will help even more people understand that everything is not always as simple as one would assume.

Join my presentation, as this time,
It's All About Time.


Expected audience expertise:

Beginner

Petter is a consultant based in Stockholm, Sweden, with extensive experience in programming across various languages. He is passionate about collaborating with his colleagues to build high-quality systems that improve people's lives every day.

Petter has both strong opinions and valuable experience regarding time in software engineering, which he will share during his talk.