What is the "right" JSON date format?

Going deeper: ISO 8601

The merits of ISO 8601

The ISO 8601 standard is a much-needed toolbox to manage the timestamps of your wildest dreams, offering:

• Global acceptance, because the world needs to agree on something!
• Ambiguity avoidance...no more feverish time zone guessworks.
• Chronological sorting. For your peace of mind and log files.
• Microsecond precision — for those who can't wait!

Timezones: Now you see 'em

If not using Z (Zulu Time), madly include your time offset; if you're sipping coffee in New York (UTC-04:00 during DST):

const offsetDate = new Date().toISOString(); // "2021-03-29T10:45:26.123-04:00", New York calling!
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This is your ticket to interpretation-error-free JSON data exchanging.

Unix Timestamps: Because we love numbers

ISO 8601 is king, but do pay your respects to the Unix timestamp:

const epochTime = Date.now(); // Return of the Unix!
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Super portable and an efficiency freak's delight, it's excellent for system internals and where performance matters.

Beyond ISO 8601: Parsing and interoperability

That's a date? Parsing struggles

While ISO strings may talk to the soul, not all systems accept them. Parse it like it's hot:

const dateObject = new Date('2021-03-29T10:45:26.123Z'); // That's a date, string!
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or make a smooth conversion from our numeric friend, Unix epoch:

const dateFromEpoch = new Date(1617020726123); // Unix, we've got a Date!
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When you need a bigger toolbox: Libraries

For your wildest date handling dreams, consider libraries like Moment.js or date-fns:

• Intricate conversions? check.
• Local delicacies for different regions? check.
• Arithmetic on dates? Double check.

Standards, because we love rules

When JSON met I-JSON and RFC 7493

I-JSON (short for Internet JSON) is JSON's classier cousin, enforcing more rules:

• Promotes ISO 8601 for dates. No messing around with formats!
• Swears by UTF-8 encoding. Charmed, I'm sure!

RFC 7493 plays the referee, guiding us on representing timestamps in JSON, echoing the need for strict ISO 8601 adherence.

Pun aside: XKCD and the inevitabilities of popularity

ISO 8601, with a nod from XKCD, testifies to more than its technical prowess. It's an assertion of its logical ease, endorsing it for your coding journey ahead.