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6. References

Normative References​

[ABNF]
Crocker, D. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax Specifications: ABNF", RFC 2234, November 1997.

[ISO8601]
"Data elements and interchange formats -- Information interchange -- Representation of dates and times", ISO 8601:1988(E), International Organization for Standardization, June 1988.

Note: ISO 8601:1988 has been updated by ISO 8601:2000, which in turn was updated by ISO 8601:2004. RFC 3339 is based on the 1988 version.

[RFC2119]
Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

Informative References​

[IMAIL]
Crocker, D., "Standard for the Format of Arpa Internet Text Messages", STD 11, RFC 822, August 1982.

[IMAIL-UPDATE]
Resnick, P., "Internet Message Format", RFC 2822, April 2001.

[HOST-REQ]
Braden, R., "Requirements for Internet Hosts -- Application and Support", STD 3, RFC 1123, October 1989.

[NTP]
Mills, D., "Network Time Protocol (Version 3) Specification, Implementation and Analysis", RFC 1305, March 1992.

[ITU-R-TF]
"Standard-frequency and time-signal emissions", ITU-R Recommendation TF.460-4, 1986.

[UNICODE]
The Unicode Consortium, "The Unicode Standard", Version 3.0, Reading, MA, Addison-Wesley, 2000, ISBN 0-201-61633-5.

Predecessor Documents​

  • RFC 822 - Electronic mail format (Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages)
  • RFC 2822 - Internet Message Format (Updates RFC 822)
  • RFC 2234 - ABNF Syntax Specification
  • RFC 2119 - RFC Key Words Definition
  • RFC 1305 - Network Time Protocol (NTP)

Subsequent Updates​

  • RFC 4287 - Atom Syndication Format (uses RFC 3339 timestamps)
  • RFC 7493 - I-JSON Message Format (recommends RFC 3339)
  • RFC 8259 - JSON Data Interchange Format (recommends RFC 3339 for date-time)

External Standards​

ISO 8601 Series​

  • ISO 8601:1988 - Version this RFC is based on
  • ISO 8601:2000 - First revision
  • ISO 8601:2004 - Second revision
  • ISO 8601-1:2019 - Latest version, Part 1: Basic rules
  • ISO 8601-2:2019 - Latest version, Part 2: Extensions
  • IETF BCP 14 - Best Current Practice consisting of RFC 2119 and RFC 8174
  • W3C Date and Time Formats - Based on ISO 8601 and RFC 3339
  • ECMA-262 - JavaScript Date Time String format (based on simplified ISO 8601)

Practical Applications​

The RFC 3339 format is widely used in:

Internet Protocols:

  • HTTP Date header (though HTTP uses a different format defined in RFC 7231)
  • Atom/RSS Feed timestamps
  • JSON API timestamps
  • XML Schema dateTime type

Programming Languages:

  • JavaScript Date.toISOString()
  • Python datetime.isoformat()
  • Java Instant.toString()
  • Go time.RFC3339

Databases:

  • PostgreSQL TIMESTAMPTZ
  • MongoDB ISODate
  • MySQL TIMESTAMP with timezone

Note: While RFC 3339 is based on ISO 8601:1988, it is a profile (subset) of ISO 8601, not a complete implementation. RFC 3339 is more strict and simplified to ensure interoperability in Internet protocols.

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