Converting DateTime to Timestamp in C#/.NET (Ignoring Current Timezone)

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Summary: Learn how to convert DateTime to timestamp in C#/.NET while disregarding the current timezone. Explore methods to obtain a universal timestamp representation for your DateTime objects without considering the local time zone settings.
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When working with date and time in C or .NET, you might encounter scenarios where you need to convert a DateTime object to a timestamp while ignoring the current timezone. Timestamps are often used for standardizing time representations across different systems and platforms. In this guide, we'll explore how to achieve this conversion in C.

DateTime and Timestamp

Before diving into the code, it's essential to understand the concepts of DateTime and timestamp. In C and .NET, DateTime represents a specific point in time, including date and time information. On the other hand, a timestamp is a numerical representation of a moment in time, usually measured as the number of seconds or milliseconds since a reference point, like the Unix epoch.

Converting DateTime to Timestamp

To convert a DateTime object to a timestamp in C without considering the current timezone, you can use the following approach:

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In this example, we subtract the Unix epoch (January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC) from the given DateTime object. By specifying DateTimeKind.Utc, we ensure that the calculation is done in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), thereby ignoring the local timezone.

Considerations

It's crucial to note that this approach doesn't take daylight saving time into account. If your application requires handling daylight saving time changes, additional adjustments may be necessary.

In scenarios where you need greater precision, you can use milliseconds instead of seconds in the timestamp calculation. Simply multiply the result by 1000 to get the timestamp in milliseconds.

By following these steps, you can convert DateTime to a timestamp in C/.NET while disregarding the current timezone, providing a standardized representation of time for your applications.