Re: Leap Seconds

["AG" <ang@xtra.co.nz>]

"Arthur Evans Jr" <ev_remove_this_ans@evans.pgh.pa.us> wrote in message
news:ev_remove_this_ans-2905012042430001@192.168.1.254...

> I expect that an Ada program that communicates with an unmanned
> (unpersoned?) space ship might care very much indeed.  Suppose the
> ship sends a message from somewhere near Saturn or some such, the
> message including a time stamp.
...
>
> Here the problem is not one Ada can solve.  You would need a clock
> at the receiving station that either was never corrected for leap
> seconds, or you would need a table of corrections.  To put it
> differently, you need some sort of clock at the receiving station
> that tells you how much time has elapsed since the vessal was
> launched.  Given that, an Ada program is easy, providing you have a
> big enough field to store all those seconds.

Well, considering we're talking about multi-year time spans and speeds
which, while still very low compared to the speed of light are not totally
negligible, does that mean that you need a clock which can account for
the relativity effects? Without any programming support? And what does
power that clock?
I would suggest that it should be the other way round - highly unlikely
any language could provide that sort of timer facility. Rather, it's the
language itself that should power the clock if it comes to such extreme
cases.