JavaScript Date API Worksheet

Questions

This reference may be helpful in understanding how you can work with Date objects.

Question 1

If you invoke the Date constructor without passing in any parameters, what date will be stored in the object that is returned?

the current date in milliseconds from the epoch

Question 2

What is an 'epoch'?

an epoch is a starting time from which all other times are measured

Question 3

What is a 'Unix timestamp' (also known as 'epoch time')?

a unix timestamp is the number of milliseconds since the epoch

Question 4

What is the actual date of the epoch for Unix timestamps?

January 1, 1970

Question 5

What does the getTime() method of a date object return (refer to the link that was mentioned above, or find another reference on the Date object in JavaScript)?

the milliseconds since the epoch

Question 6

If you are working with 2 date objects, how could you use the getTime() method to determine if one date is more recent than the other?

subtract one from the other and if the result is positive the first date is more recent