Converting dates to epoch and vice versa

The epoch is the universal system to describe the point in time. The beginning of epoch time is defined as 00:00:00 1 Jan 1970 UTC. The value of epoch is the amount of seconds since the timestamp, minus the amount of leap seconds since then.

The time package and Time type provide you with the ability to operate and find out the UNIX epoch time.

How to do it...

1. Open the console and create the folder chapter04/recipe04.
2. Navigate to the directory.
3. Create the epoch.go file with the following content:

        package main

        import (
          "fmt"
          "time"
        )

        func main() {

          // Set the epoch from int64
          t := time.Unix(0, 0)
          fmt.Println(t)

          // Get the epoch
          // from Time instance
          epoch := t.Unix()
          fmt.Println(epoch)

          // Current epoch time
          apochNow := time.Now().Unix()
          fmt.Printf("Epoch time in seconds: %d\n", apochNow)

          apochNano...