Epoch and time calculations are crucial for various applications, including those related to finance, gaming, and reward mechanisms, where actions are triggered or determined based on specific time intervals.
To understand the practicality of the modulo operator in the context of epochs, let's dissect a given example.
Epochs are predefined intervals of time. In the provided scenario, each epoch is defined as 86,400 seconds, which translates into 1 day.
Determining passed epochs:
Assuming each epoch represents a day (86,400 seconds), the calculation method to determine the current epoch involves dividing the time elapsed since the first epoch started by the duration of one epoch.
This can be expressed as (currentTime - startFirstEpoch) / epochTime.
The problem is now that solidity cannot handle floating numbers, hence it will always return one full epoch, not 1,5 whatsoever.
Determining passed time in current epoch:
Now to calculate the passed time in the current epoch, the modulo operator comes into play.
By using currentTime % epochTime, the remainder from this division gives us the number of seconds that have passed in the current epoch. This operation is particularly useful for determining where exactly we are within an epoch, enabling smart contracts to execute epoch-specific logic, such as updating states, triggering events, or calculating rewards based on the time within the current epoch.
To understand the practicality of the modulo operator in the context of epochs, let's dissect a given example.
Epochs are predefined intervals of time. In the provided scenario, each epoch is defined as 86,400 seconds, which translates into 1 day.
Determining passed epochs:
Assuming each epoch represents a day (86,400 seconds), the calculation method to determine the current epoch involves dividing the time elapsed since the first epoch started by the duration of one epoch.
This can be expressed as (currentTime - startFirstEpoch) / epochTime.
The problem is now that solidity cannot handle floating numbers, hence it will always return one full epoch, not 1,5 whatsoever.
Determining passed time in current epoch:
Now to calculate the passed time in the current epoch, the modulo operator comes into play.
By using currentTime % epochTime, the remainder from this division gives us the number of seconds that have passed in the current epoch. This operation is particularly useful for determining where exactly we are within an epoch, enabling smart contracts to execute epoch-specific logic, such as updating states, triggering events, or calculating rewards based on the time within the current epoch.
Link to the article
https://twitter.com/CharlesWangP/status/1774858932491563507
