Python Dates

About Python Dates

In Python, dates are used to work with calendar-based values like year, month, day, minutes, time, and so on. Python doesn’t have a built-in date data type, but it provides the datetime module to handle dates and times.

It is important to learn how to work with dates in Python, as they are commonly used in various applications for scheduling, logging events, and managing time-based data.

The datetime module provides classes for manipulating dates and times in both simple and complex ways. It allows you to create, format, and perform arithmetic operations on date and time objects.

Using the datetime Module

Importing and using the datetime module

To work with dates and times in Python, you first need to import the datetime module. You can do this in the following ways:

Import the entire datetime module

# Import the datetime module
import datetime

currentTime = datetime.datetime.now() # Get the current date and time
print(currentTime)

import datetime: This line imports the datetime module, which contains classes and functions for working with dates and times.
datetime.datetime.now(): This function retrieves the current date and time from the system. The first datetime refers to the module, and the second datetime refers to the class within that module.
print(currentTime): This line prints the current date and time to the console.

Import specific classes from the datetime module

# Import specific classes from the datetime module
from datetime import datetime, date

currentDateTime = datetime.now() # Get the current date and time
print(currentDateTime)

currentDate = date.today() # Get the current date and time
print(currentDate)

from datetime import datetime, date: This line imports only the datetime and date classes from the datetime module, allowing you to use them directly without prefixing them with the module name.
datetime.now(): This function retrieves the current date and time from the system. Since we imported the datetime class directly, we can call it without the module prefix.
date.today(): This function retrieves the current date from the system. Similar to datetime.now(), we can call it directly because we imported the date class.

Creating Date and Time Objects

The datetime module provides several classes to represent dates and times, including datetime, date, and time. You can create instances of these classes to represent specific dates and times.

Create a specific date and time object

To create a date and time object in Python, you can use the datetime class from the datetime module. Here is an example of how to create a specific date and time object:

# Import the datetime module
import datetime

# Create a specific date and time object
specificDateTime = datetime.datetime(2025, 10, 5, 10, 30, 20) # Year, Month, Day, Hour, Minute, Second
print(specificDateTime) # Output: 2025-10-05 10:30:20

# Access individual components of the date and time
print(specificDateTime.year) # Output: 2025
print(specificDateTime.month) # Output: 10
print(specificDateTime.day) # Output: 5
print(specificDateTime.hour) # Output: 10
print(specificDateTime.minute) # Output: 30
print(specificDateTime.second) # Output: 20

# Accessing full date and time part separately
print(specificDateTime.date()) # Output: 2025-10-05 (Date part)
print(specificDateTime.time()) # Output: 10:30:20 (Time part)

Create a specific date object

To create a date object in Python, you can use the date class from the datetime module. Here is an example of how to create a specific date object:

# Import the datetime module
import datetime

# Create a specific date object
specificDate = datetime.date(2025, 10, 5) # Year, Month, Day
print(specificDate) # Output: 2025-10-05

# Access individual components of the date
print(specificDate.year) # Output: 2025
print(specificDate.month) # Output: 10
print(specificDate.day) # Output: 5

Create a specific time object

To create a time object in Python, you can use the time class from the datetime module. Here is an example of how to create a specific time object:

# Import the datetime module
import datetime

# Create a specific time object
specificTime = datetime.time(10, 30, 20) # Hour, Minute, Second
print(specificTime) # Output: 10:30:20

# Access individual components of the time
print(specificTime.hour) # Output: 10
print(specificTime.minute) # Output: 30
print(specificTime.second) # Output: 20

Creating Current Date and Time Objects

You can create a current date and time object using the now() method from the datetime class. This method retrieves the current date and time from the system clock.

You can also use the today() method to get the current date and time, and the utcnow() method to get the current date and time in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Here is an example of how to create a current date and time object using the now(), today(), and utcnow() methods:

# Import the datetime module
import datetime


# Create current date and time object
currentDateTime = datetime.datetime.now() # Get the current date and time
print("Current date and time:", currentDateTime) # Output: Current date and time

# Access individual components of the date and time
print(currentDateTime.year) # Output: Current year
print(currentDateTime.month) # Output: Current month
print(currentDateTime.day) # Output: Current day
print(currentDateTime.hour) # Output: Current hour
print(currentDateTime.minute) # Output: Current minute
print(currentDateTime.second) # Output: Current second
print(currentDateTime.microsecond) # Output: Current microsecond

# Using today()
today = datetime.datetime.today()
print(f"Today: {today}") # Output: Today: Current date and time

# UTC now
utc_now = datetime.datetime.now(datetime.UTC)
print(f"UTC now: {utc_now}")

Creating timedelta Objects

The timedelta class in the datetime module is used to represent a duration, i.e., the difference between two dates or times.

You can create a timedelta object by specifying the number of days, hours, minutes, seconds, milliseconds, microseconds, and weeks.

Here is an example of how to create a timedelta object:

# Importing the timeDelta, datetime classes from the datetime module
from datetime import timedelta, datetime

# Create a timedelta object representing a duration of 10 days, 5 hours, and 30 minutes
duration = timedelta(days=10, hours=5, minutes=30) 
print("Duration:", duration) # Output: Duration: 10 days, 5:30:00

# Access individual components of the timedelta object
print("Days:", duration.days) # Output: Days: 10
print("Seconds:", duration.seconds) # Output: Seconds: 19800 (5 hours and 30 minutes in seconds)
print("Total seconds:", duration.total_seconds()) # Output: Total seconds: 891000.0

Performing arithmetic operations with timedelta

You can perform arithmetic operations with timedelta objects, such as addition and subtraction. Here is an example of how to add and subtract a timedelta object from a datetime object:

# Importing the timeDelta, datetime classes from the datetime module
from datetime import timedelta, datetime

# Create a timedelta object representing a duration of 5 days, 5 hours, and 30 minutes
duration = timedelta(days=5, hours=5, minutes=30) 
print("Duration:", duration) # Output: Duration: 5 days, 5:30:00

# Create a current date and time object
currentDateTime = datetime.now()
print("Current date and time:", currentDateTime)  # The output will be the current date and time of execution

# Add the duration to the current date and time
newDateTime = currentDateTime + duration
print("New date and time after adding duration:", newDateTime) # Output: New date and time after adding duration


# Subtract the duration from the current date and time
newDateTimeSubtracted = currentDateTime - duration
print("New date and time after subtracting duration:", newDateTimeSubtracted) # Output: New date and time after subtracting duration

Find difference of two datetime objects

You can find the difference between two datetime objects by subtracting one from the other. This will give you a timedelta object that represents the duration between the two dates. Here is an example:

from datetime import datetime

dt1 = datetime(2023, 12, 25, 10, 0, 0)
dt2 = datetime(2024, 12, 27, 15, 30, 0)

# time difference between two datetime objects
difference = dt2 - dt1
print(f"Difference: {difference}") # Output: Difference: 368 days, 5:30:00

# total seconds in the difference
totalSeconds = difference.total_seconds()
print(f"Total seconds: {totalSeconds}") # Output: Total seconds: 31815000.0

# total days in the difference
print(f"Total days: {difference.days}") # Output: Total days: 368

# remaining seconds after extracting days
remainingSeconds = difference.seconds;
print(f"Remaining seconds: {remainingSeconds}") # Output: Remaining seconds: 19800

# Extract hours and minutes from remaining seconds
hours = remainingSeconds // 3600
print(f"Hours: {hours}") # Output: Hours: 5

# Extract minutes from remaining seconds
minutes = (remainingSeconds % 3600) // 60
print(f"Minutes: {minutes}") # Output: Minutes: 30

Formatting Dates and Times

You can format date and time objects into readable strings using the strftime() method. This method allows you to specify the format in which you want to display the date and time.

Common format codes used in strftime()

%Y: Year with century (e.g., 2023)
%y: Year without century (e.g., 23 for 2023)
%m: Month as a zero-padded decimal number (e.g., 12 for December)
%d: Day of the month as a zero-padded decimal number (e.g., 25)
%H: Hour (24-hour clock) as a zero-padded decimal number (e.g., 15 for 3 PM)
%I: Hour (12-hour clock) as a zero-padded decimal number (e.g., 03 for 3 PM)
%M: Minute as a zero-padded decimal number (e.g., 30)
%S: Second as a zero-padded decimal number (e.g., 45)
%A: Full weekday name (e.g., Monday)
%a: Abbreviated weekday name (e.g., Mon)
%B: Full month name (e.g., December)
%b: Abbreviated month name (e.g., Dec)
%p: AM or PM designation
%f: Microsecond as a decimal number, zero-padded on the left (e.g., 000000 to 999999)
%j: Day of the year as a zero-padded decimal number (e.g., 001 to 366)
%U: Week number of the year (Sunday as the first day of the week) as a zero-padded decimal number (e.g., 00 to 53)
%W: Week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a zero-padded decimal number (e.g., 00 to 53)

Here are some examples of how to format a datetime object using the strftime() method:

import datetime 

now = datetime.datetime(2025, 10, 2, 10, 30, 20) # Year, Month, Day, Hour, Minute, Second 


# Format year in different ways
print(now.strftime("%Y")) # Output: 2025
print(now.strftime("%y")) # Output: 25

# Format month in different ways
print(now.strftime("%m")) # Output: 10
print(now.strftime("%B")) # Output: October
print(now.strftime("%b")) # Output: Oct

# Format day in different ways
print(now.strftime("%d")) # Output: 02
print(now.strftime("%A")) # Output: Thursday
print(now.strftime("%a")) # Output: Thu

# Format time in different ways
print(now.strftime("%H:%M:%S")) # Output: 10:30:20 (24-hour format)
print(now.strftime("%I:%M:%S %p")) # Output: 10:30:20 AM (12-hour format with AM/PM)
print(now.strftime("%M:%S")) # Output: 30:20 (Minutes and Seconds)
print(now.strftime("%S")) # Output: 20 (Seconds only)
print(now.strftime("%f")) # Output: 000000 (Microseconds)

# Combine date and time formats
print(now.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")) # Output: 2025-10-02 10:30:20
print(now.strftime("%d/%m/%Y %I:%M %p")) # Output: 02/10/2025 10:30 AM
print(now.strftime("%A, %B %d, %Y at %I:%M %p")) # Output: Thursday, October 02, 2025 at 10:30 AM
print(now.strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S")) # Output: 2025-10-02T10:30:20 (ISO 8601 format)


# Format the date and time in different ways
print(now.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")) # Output: 2025-10-02
print(now.strftime("%B %d, %Y")) # Output: October 02, 2025
print(now.strftime("%I:%M %p")) # Output: 10:30 AM

# Custom format
print(now.strftime("Today is %A, %B %d, %Y and the time is %I:%M:%S %p"))
# Output: Today is Thursday, October 02, 2025 and the time is 10:30:20 AM

# ISO 8601 format
print(now.isoformat()) # Output: 2025-10-02T10:30:20

# RFC 2822 format
print(now.strftime("%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S +0000")) # Output: Thu, 02 Oct 2025 10:30:20 +0000

# Custom format with timezone (if applicable)
print(now.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %Z")) # Output: 2025-10-02 10:30:20

# Custom format with microseconds
print(now.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%f")) # Output: 2025-10-02 10:30:20.000000

# Custom format with day of the year
print(now.strftime("Day of the year: %j")) # Output: Day of the year: 275

# Custom format with week number
print(now.strftime("Week number: %U")) # Output: Week number: 39

# Custom format with abbreviated month and weekday names
print(now.strftime("Today is %a, %b %d, %Y")) # Output: Today is Thu, Oct 02, 2025

# Custom format with 12-hour clock and AM/PM
print(now.strftime("Current time: %I:%M:%S %p")) # Output: Current time: 10:30:20 AM

# Custom format with 24-hour clock
print(now.strftime("Current time (24-hour): %H:%M:%S")) # Output: Current time (24-hour): 10:30:20

# Custom format with full month and weekday names
print(now.strftime("Today is %A, the %d of %B, %Y")) # Output: Today is Thursday, the 02 of October, 2025

Converting Strings to Dates Using strptime()

You can convert a string representation of a date and time into a datetime object using the strptime() method. This method allows you to specify the format of the input string so that it can be correctly parsed into a date and time object.

It is important to match the format of the input string with the format codes used in the strptime() method to ensure accurate conversion. Otherwise, you may encounter errors or incorrect date and time values.

Here is an example of how to convert a string to a datetime object using the strptime() method:

from datetime import datetime

# String representation of a date and time
dateString = "2025-10-02 10:30:20"

# Define the format of the input string
format = "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S" # Year-Month-Day Hour:Minute:Second

# Convert the string to a datetime object
dateTimeObject = datetime.strptime(dateString, format)
print("Converted datetime object:", dateTimeObject) # Output: Converted datetime object: 2025-10-02 10:30:20

# Convert a different string format to a datetime object
dateString2 = "02/10/2025 10:30 AM"
format2 = "%d/%m/%Y %I:%M %p" # Day/Month/Year Hour:Minute AM/PM
dateTimeObject2 = datetime.strptime(dateString2, format2)
print("Converted datetime object:", dateTimeObject2) # Output: Converted datetime object: 2025-10-02 10:30:00


date_str1 = "2023-12-25"
dt1 = datetime.strptime(date_str1, "%Y-%m-%d") # Year, Month, Day
print(f"Converted datetime object: {dt1}") # Output: Converted datetime object: 2023-12-25 00:00:00

date_str2 = "25/12/2023"
dt2 = datetime.strptime(date_str2, "%d/%m/%Y") # Day, Month, Year
print(f"Converted datetime object: {dt2}") # Output: Converted datetime object: 2023-12-25 00:00:00

date_str3 = "Dec 25, 2023 15:30"
dt3 = datetime.strptime(date_str3, "%b %d, %Y %H:%M") # Abbreviated month name, Day, Year, Hour, Minute
print(f"Converted datetime object: {dt3}") # Output: Converted datetime object: 2023-12-25 15:30:00

date_str4 = "Monday, December 25, 2023"
dt4 = datetime.strptime(date_str4, "%A, %B %d, %Y") # Full weekday name, Full month name, Day, Year
print(f"Converted datetime object: {dt4}") # Output: Converted datetime object: 2023-12-25 00:00:00

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