Common datetime operations in Python using the datetime module, with examples and outputs.
- Basic datetime operations (creating and accessing datetime objects)
- Formatting and parsing datetime strings
- Date arithmetic (adding/subtracting time, calculating differences)
- Comparing dates
- Working with timestamps
- Handling time zones (using the pytz library)
1. Basic Datetime Operations
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
# Get current date and time
now = datetime.now()
print(f"Current date and time: {now}")
# Output: Current date and time: 2024-07-04 13:01:23.456789
# Create a specific date
specific_date = datetime(2024, 12, 31, 23, 59, 59)
print(f"Specific date: {specific_date}")
# Output: Specific date: 2024-12-31 23:59:59
# Get date components
print(f"Year: {now.year}, Month: {now.month}, Day: {now.day}")
print(f"Hour: {now.hour}, Minute: {now.minute}, Second: {now.second}")
# Output: Year: 2024, Month: 7, Day: 4
# Output: Hour: 13, Minute: 1, Second: 23
2. Formatting and Parsing
# Format date as string
formatted_date = now.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
print(f"Formatted date: {formatted_date}")
# Output: Formatted date: 2024-07-04 13:01:23
# Parse string to datetime
date_string = "2024-12-31 23:59:59"
parsed_date = datetime.strptime(date_string, "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
print(f"Parsed date: {parsed_date}")
# Output: Parsed date: 2024-12-31 23:59:59
# ISO format
iso_date = now.isoformat()
print(f"ISO format: {iso_date}")
# Output: ISO format: 2024-07-04T13:01:23.456789
3. Date Arithmetic
# Add or subtract time
tomorrow = now + timedelta(days=1)
print(f"Tomorrow: {tomorrow}")
# Output: Tomorrow: 2024-07-05 13:01:23.456789
last_week = now - timedelta(weeks=1)
print(f"Last week: {last_week}")
# Output: Last week: 2024-06-27 13:01:23.456789
# Calculate time difference
time_difference = specific_date - now
print(f"Time until New Year: {time_difference}")
# Output: Time until New Year: 180 days, 10:58:36.543211
4. Comparing Dates
date1 = datetime(2024, 7, 4)
date2 = datetime(2024, 12, 31)
if date1 < date2:
print("date1 is earlier than date2")
else:
print("date1 is not earlier than date2")
# Output: date1 is earlier than date2
if date1 == now.replace(hour=0, minute=0, second=0, microsecond=0):
print("date1 is today")
else:
print("date1 is not today")
# Output: date1 is today
5. Working with Timestamps
# Get timestamp (seconds since epoch)
timestamp = datetime.timestamp(now)
print(f"Timestamp: {timestamp}")
# Output: Timestamp: 1720209683.456789
# Create datetime from timestamp
date_from_timestamp = datetime.fromtimestamp(timestamp)
print(f"Date from timestamp: {date_from_timestamp}")
# Output: Date from timestamp: 2024-07-04 13:01:23.456789
6. Working with Time Zones (requires pytz library)
from pytz import timezone
# Create a timezone-aware datetime
utc = timezone('UTC')
ny = timezone('America/New_York')
utc_now = utc.localize(datetime.now())
ny_now = utc_now.astimezone(ny)
print(f"UTC time: {utc_now}")
print(f"New York time: {ny_now}")
# Output: UTC time: 2024-07-04 13:01:23.456789+00:00
# Output: New York time: 2024-07-04 09:01:23.456789-04:00
# Convert between time zones
paris = timezone('Europe/Paris')
paris_now = ny_now.astimezone(paris)
print(f"Paris time: {paris_now}")
# Output: Paris time: 2024-07-04 15:01:23.456789+02:00