Timestamp: what happens in 2037?

[gerardg]

From the docs:

"TIMESTAMP values may range from the beginning of 1970 to sometime in the year 2037, with a resolution of one second. Values are displayed as numbers."

OK, so why didn't they allow timestamp to have more values, and what happens as 2037 gets closer (or you want timestamp values outside of that range and are really set on using timestamps :-)?

[Anon]

Hopefully Intel will perfect their 64-bit processors by then. 🙂

As I understand it, the TIMESTAMP is stored in 4 bytes, which is 32 bits. 2³² ~= 4 billion seconds. 2037 is 4 billion seconds from 1970, so when that certain date occurs, the number of seconds will wrap back around to 0, causing confusion in programs similar to the way the Y2K problem was supposed to cause problems.

By that time, though, I doubt this will be an issue, assuming our industry doesn't sweep the problem under the rug like the Y2K problem.