About
The file modification time is a file metadata that is set to the last time the content of the file was modified.
It should not but this date can be changed even if the content of the file was not modified. To verify a change of content, you may also compute a digest.
Usage
Processing Tool Diff
Most processing tool such as code build tools 1) will compare
- the modified timestamp of the source (source file for code)
- with the modified timestamp of the target (compiled file)
when the former one is older than the last one, the processing tool will start.
Data Integration Diff
The same logic applies for any processing tool.
For instance, a change data integration capture will check the change data capture timestamp of the source versus the target