6. Information Example 3

Data

We are given a list of numbers but have no idea what they mean

Context

We are told that the numbers are dates when a holiday cottage has been booked. They now have some meaning. With date data, it is also vital to know the format. For example they could be UK format: dd-mm-yy or they could be in American format: mm-dd-yy or perhaps they could even be in a text sort-friendly format: yy-mm-dd.

Processing

The dates are muddled. After sorting them into ascending order it would be easy to see when the first booking was due and when subsequent bookings would happen. It would also be possible to see when the cottage had not been booked.