{"id":7385,"date":"2020-07-28T10:45:49","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T10:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.askpython.com\/?p=7385"},"modified":"2020-08-07T12:50:39","modified_gmt":"2020-08-07T12:50:39","slug":"python-date-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.askpython.com\/python-modules\/python-date-class","title":{"rendered":"Python date Class – 7 functions to know!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hey! In this article, we will be focusing on Python date class in detail. So, let us get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is Python datetime module?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Python datetime module<\/a> offers us with various classes and functions to deal with and manipulate the data values in terms of date and time values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need to import the datetime module in order to access the different classes and methods contained in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, you can use the below snippet of code to import the date class and create a date object through user-defined parameters–<\/p>\n\n\n

\nfrom datetime import date\n \ndte = date(2020,12,27)\n \nprint("Date: ", dte)\n\n\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
Output<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
\nDate:  2020-12-27\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
Now, let us understand the date class of Python datetime module in the upcoming section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Implementing methods of date class<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Python date class contains various methods to work with date format of the data values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By using the functions of the date class, we can easily manipulate and frame the data values into the standard date format YYYY-MM-DD<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let us now have a look at some of the important functions framed by the date class function in detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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1. date.today() function<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The date.today() function<\/code> fetches the current date from the system and represents the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Syntax:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
\ndate.today()\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
\nfrom datetime import date\n \ndte = date.today()\n \nprint("Date: ", dte)\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
Output:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
\nDate:  2020-07-25\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
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2. date.year() function<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
We can access and fetch the year from the date expression using year function. The year function<\/code> extracts and represents the year value from the provided date expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Syntax:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
\ndate.today().year\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
\nfrom datetime import datetime,date\n \nyear = date.today().year\nprint(year)\n\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
From date.today() function, we get the current date i.e 2020-07-26. Further to which, we have extracted the year value using year() function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Output:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
\n2020\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
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3. date.month() function<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
In order to extract and represent the month value, month function <\/code>can be used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Syntax:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
\ndate.today().month\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
\nfrom datetime import datetime,date\n \nmnth = date.today().month\nprint(mnth)\n\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
Output:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
\n7\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
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4. date.day() function<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The day value from a date expression can be easily extracted using day function<\/code> as shown below–<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Syntax:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
\ndate.day\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
\nfrom datetime import datetime,date\n \nday = date.today().day\nprint(day)\n\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
Output:<\/strong> 25<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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5. date.replace() function<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
At times, a situation may arise, when we would want to alter the date portions of the date expression. This task can be achieved using replace() function. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The date.replace() function<\/code> can be used to replace the below date portions–<\/p>\n\n\n\n