Kuwaiti algorithm: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:11, 11 July 2009

Revision as of 05:20, 27 August 2009

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[[Microsoft]] uses the '''Kuwaiti algorithm'''<ref>[http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/DrIntl/columns/002/default.mspx#EAD Hijri Dates in SQL Server 2000] from Microsoft</ref><ref>Kriegel, Alex, and Boris M. Trukhnov. SQL Bible. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley, 2008. Page 383.</ref> to convert between dates in the Western standard [[Gregorian calendar]] and dates in the Hijri or [[Islamic calendar]]. There is no fixed correspondence defined in advance between the Gregorian [[solar calendar]] and the Islamic [[lunar calendar]], since the latter is defined by the visibility of the new moon by religious authorities and can therefore vary by a day or two, depending on the particular Islamic authority, weather conditions, and other variables. As an attempt to make conversions between the calendars somewhat predictable, Microsoft claims to have created this [[algorithm]] based on statistical analysis of historical data from [[Kuwait]]. However, its results are identical to a variation of the [[tabular Islamic calendar]], which was introduced by IslamicMuslim astronomers around the eighth century.<ref>[http://www.phys.uu.nl/~vgent/islam/islam_tabcal_main.htm#kuwait The "Kuwait algorithm" in Islamic-Western Calendar Converter by Robert van Gent]</ref>

Inevitably, any arithmetic algorithm is imprecise, and results often differ by a day or two from observation or complex calculation.