The widespread use of YYMMDD as the date format of choice in information systems caused worldwide anxiety at the turn of the millennium, costing untold billions of dollars in remediation to ensure that systems would continue to function. Once this particular data format choice was selected, the need for remediation was inevitable. However, were the rationales for selecting this particular format ever valid?

This presentation will use Time-of-Year formats as a microcosm of the issues which need to be considered when deciding on architectural and data structuring, format, and representation. Time-of-Year formats have been an ongoing source of such problems. Issues which should be considered when making architectural decisions will be highlighted, and their implications discussed.

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