PEP 410

1 files changed, 36 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Doc/whatsnew/3.3.rst b/Doc/whatsnew/3.3.rst
index 8739584..67408c6 100644
--- a/Doc/whatsnew/3.3.rst
+++ b/Doc/whatsnew/3.3.rst
@@ -270,6 +270,42 @@ new, more precise information::
    '<function C.D.meth at 0x7f46b9fe31e0>'
 
 
+PEP 410: Use decimal.Decimal type for timestamps
+================================================
+
+:pep:`410` - Use decimal.Decimal type for timestamps
+ PEP written and implemented by Victor Stinner.
+
+The following functions have a new optional *timestamp* argument to get a
+timestamp as a :class:`decimal.Decimal` instead of :class:`int` or
+:class:`float`:
+
+ * :mod:`time` module: :func:`~time.clock`, :func:`~time.clock_gettime`,
+   :func:`~time.clock_getres`, :func:`~time.monotonic`, :func:`~time.time` and
+   :func:`~time.wallclock`
+ * :mod:`os` module: :func:`~os.fstat`, :func:`~os.fstatat`, :func:`~os.lstat`
+   and :func:`~os.stat` (``st_atime``, ``st_ctime`` and ``st_mtime`` fields of
+   the stat structure)
+
+:class:`decimal.Decimal` supports a resolution of a nanosecond (10^-9)
+resolution, whereas :class:`float` has only a resolution of a microsecond
+(10^-6) in common cases. See the list of available :ref:`timestamp types
+<timestamp-types>`.
+
+Example::
+
+    >>> import decimal, time
+    >>> time.time()
+    1328006975.681211
+    >>> time.time(timestamp=int)
+    1328006979
+    >>> time.time(timestamp=decimal.Decimal)
+    Decimal('1328006983.761119')
+
+:func:`os.stat_float_times` has been deprecated, use *timestamp* argument of
+`os.stat` instead.
+
+
 Other Language Changes
 ======================