Hello in this tutorial, we will see how to use the Datetime module in python programming.
1. Introduction
A datetime package is an in-built python module that helps to encapsulate the date/time values. To dig digger in this tutorial we will need to download and install one extra dependency from the PyPi website. Use the pip command to install the pytz package.
Command
pip install pytz
1.2 Setting up Python
If someone needs to go through the Python installation on Windows, please watch this link. You can download the Python from this link.
2. Python Datetime Object Example
Let us dive in with the programming stuff now. I am using JetBrains PyCharm as my preferred IDE. You’re free to choose the IDE of your choice.
2.1 Creating an implementation file
Let us understand the implementation with the help of a python script. The script explores different methods from the datetime module like fetching current date and timestamp, timezones, converting string timestamp to date-time object, etc.
Implementation file
# python datetime object tutorial
# importing module
from datetime import datetime, timedelta, date
import pytz
# get current date and time
def get_current_date_time():
now = datetime.now()
print('Current date/time = {}'.format(now))
# get current date
def get_current_date():
now_date = date.today()
print('Current date = {}'.format(now_date))
# convert string to date time
def convert_string_to_datetime(date_str):
obj = datetime.strptime(date_str, '%B %d, %Y, %H:%M:%S')
print('Date = {}'.format(obj.date()))
print('Time = {}'.format(obj.time()))
print('Date = {}'.format(obj))
# get current date and time in utc
def get_current_date_time_in_utc():
now = datetime.now(pytz.utc)
print('Current date/time in utc = {}'.format(now))
# get timestamp from the given numeric timestamp
def get_timestamp_from_timestamp(timestamp):
obj = datetime.fromtimestamp(timestamp)
print('Date = {}'.format(obj))
# calculate the future date
def calculate_future_date(no_of_days):
now = datetime.now()
# calculating future date
future = now + timedelta(days=no_of_days)
print('Future date = {}'.format(future))
# driver code
if __name__ == '__main__':
# get_current_date_time()
print('----')
# get_current_date()
print('----')
# convert_string_to_datetime('November 5, 2020, 20:19:55')
print('----')
# get_current_date_time_in_utc()
print('----')
# get_timestamp_from_timestamp(1826254364)
print('----')
calculate_future_date(365)
print("\ndone")
You can uncomment the method of your choice and run this python script. If everything goes well the output will be shown in the IDE console.
Console output
Current date/time = 2021-05-26 21:08:31.228270 ---- Current date = 2021-05-26 ---- Date = 2020-11-05 Time = 20:19:55 Date = 2020-11-05 20:19:55 ---- Current date/time in utc = 2021-05-26 15:38:31.235326+00:00 ---- Date = 2027-11-15 10:22:44 ---- Future date = 2022-05-26 21:08:31.235326 done
That is all for this tutorial and I hope the article served you with whatever you were looking for. Happy Learning and do not forget to share!
3. Summary
In this tutorial, we learned:
- How to use the
datetimepackage to manipulate date and time in python - We explain through examples how this works
You can download the source code of this tutorial from the Downloads section.
4. Download the Project
This was a tutorial to use the datetime package to manipulate date and time in python.
You can download the full source code of this example here: Python Datetime Object Example
Last updated on Jan. 21st, 2022
