FTB-C000064 / Implementation concept

Time Zone

A time zone is a governed set of civil-time offset rules used to interpret local dates and times.

Also known astimezonenamed time zone

Foundation 4 linked topicsPublished

Definitions

In plain terms

New York market time changes its UTC offset during daylight-saving transitions, so a fixed offset is not enough for historical scheduling.

Technical

Store a named IANA zone plus the tzdb version when reproducibility matters; an offset identifies one instant but not the zone's historical or future rules.

Scope

A time-zone database does not define exchange holidays or sessions.

Examples

  • A governed dataset records time zone explicitly instead of inferring it from an ambiguous field.

Common misconceptions

  • Time Zone does not have one universal meaning without its stated market, source, and time context.

Concept relationships

Related

Required by

Where this concept is used

Tutorials planned

These catalogued topics use this concept, but their complete build has not shipped yet.

  • D01-F01-A01 Important
  • D01-F03-A04 Important
  • D01-F03-A05 Important
  • D01-F04-A02 Important

Evidence and governance

  1. Time Zone Database Internet Assigned Numbers Authority · official standard

    Supports: preferred label, short definition, technical definition

    Limits: The database does not contain exchange sessions, trading holidays, or product calendars.

  2. Fintech Builder Glossary Definition Contract The Fintech Builder · internal governed contract

    Supports: variant distinction

    Limits: Defines governed platform behavior rather than claiming these policies are universally prescribed by external McClellan methodology.

Reviewed by
Last reviewed
2026-07-26
Next review
2027-07-26
Record status
published
Written by

Fintech engineer building market-data and financial systems, and the author of every article, glossary record, and reference implementation on The Fintech Builder.