Dr. Axel Rauschmayer gives us a feel for one of the most exciting new APIs in JavaScript-land.

The Temporal date time API is accessible via the global variable Temporal. It is a pleasure to use:

• All objects are immutable. Changing them produces new values, similarly to how strings work in JS.
• There is support for time zones and non-Gregorian calendars.
• There are several specialized classes for Temporal values (date time values with time zones, date time values without time zones, date values without time zones, etc.). That has several benefits:
  • The context of a value (time zone or not, etc.) is easier to understand.
  • It is often more obvious how to achieve a given task.
  • .toString() can be used with much less consideration.
• January is month 1.

(The Temporal proposal is currently at Stage 3. The API isn’t expected to change and is being implemented.)