Python's datetime module provides several classes for working with dates and times. These classes include date, time, datetime, timedelta, and tzinfo.
In this guide, we will cover the basics of using these classes to work with date and time data in Python.
date
The date class represents a single date (year, month, and day).
It can be used to create a date object, which can then be used to extract the individual components of the date (year, month, and day).
Creating a date object
To create a date object, you can use the date() constructor, which takes three arguments: year, month, and day.
For example:
from datetime import date
d = date(2022, 12, 31)
print(d)
# Output: 2022-12-31You can also use the today() function to create a date object representing the current date:
from datetime import date
d = date.today()
print(d)
# Output: 2022-12-31Extracting date components
You can use the year, month, and day attributes of a date object to extract the individual components of the date.
For example:
from datetime import date
d = date(2022, 12, 31)
print(d.year) # Output: 2022
print(d.month) # Output: 12
print(d.day) # Output: 31Comparing dates
You can use the standard comparison operators ( <, >, ==, etc. ) to compare two date objects.
For example:
from datetime import date
d1 = date(2022, 12, 31)
d2 = date(2022, 12, 30)
print(d1 > d2) # Output: Truetime
The time class represents a single time (hours, minutes, seconds, and microseconds).
It can be used to create a time object, which can then be used to extract the individual components of the time (hours, minutes, seconds, and microseconds).
Creating a time object
To create a time object, you can use the time() constructor, which takes four arguments: hours, minutes, seconds, and microseconds.
For example:
from datetime import time
t = time(12, 30, 45)
print(t)
# Output: 12:30:45Extracting time components
You can use the hour, minute, second, and microsecond attributes of a time object to extract the individual components of the time.
For example:
from datetime import time
t = time(12, 30, 45)
print(t.hour) # Output: 12
print(t.minute) # Output: 30
print(t.second) # Output: 45
print(t.microsecond) # Output: 0Comparing times
You can use the standard comparison operators ( <, >, ==, etc. ) to compare two time objects.
For example:
from datetime import time
t1 = time(12, 30, 45)
t2 = time(12, 30, 44)
print(t1 > t2) # Output: Truedatetime
The datetime class combines the functionality of the date and time classes.
It can be used to create a single object representing both a date and a time.
Creating a datetime object
To create a datetime object, you can use the datetime() constructor, which takes six arguments: year, month, day, hour, minute, and second.
For example:
from datetime import datetime
dt = datetime(2022, 12, 31, 12, 30, 45)
print(dt)
# Output: 2022-12-31 12:30:45You can also use the now() function to create a datetime object representing the current date and time:
from datetime import datetime
dt = datetime.now()
print(dt)
# Output: 2022-12-31 12:30:45.123456Extracting datetime components
You can use the year, month, day, hour, minute, second, and microsecond attributes of a datetime object to extract the individual components of the date and time.
For example:
from datetime import datetime
dt = datetime(2022, 12, 31, 12, 30, 45)
print(dt.year) # Output: 2022
print(dt.month) # Output: 12
print(dt.day) # Output: 31
print(dt.hour) # Output: 12
print(dt.minute) # Output: 30
print(dt.second) # Output: 45
print(dt.microsecond) # Output: 0Comparing datetimes
You can use the standard comparison operators ( <, >, ==, etc. ) to compare two datetime objects.
For example:
from datetime import datetime
dt1 = datetime(2022, 12, 31, 12, 30, 45)
dt2 = datetime(2022, 12, 31, 12, 30, 44)
print(dt1 > dt2) # Output: TrueFormatting datetime
You can use the strftime() method to format a datetime object as a string. It takes a format string as an argument, which specifies how the datetime should be formatted.
For example:
from datetime import datetime
dt = datetime(2022, 12, 31, 12, 30, 45)
print(dt.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'))
# Output: 2022-12-31 12:30:45You can use the various codes like %Y, %m, %d, %H, %M, %S, etc. to format the datetime object accordingly.
timedelta
A timedelta object represents a duration, the difference between two dates or times.
It can be used to perform arithmetic with date and time objects.
Creating a timedelta object
To create a timedelta object, you can use the timedelta() constructor, which takes several arguments to represent days, seconds, microseconds, milliseconds, minutes, hours, weeks.
For example:
from datetime import timedelta
td = timedelta(days=1, seconds=3600)
print(td)
# Output: 1:01:00Arithmetic with timedeltas
You can perform arithmetic operations with timedeltas and datetime objects.
For example:
from datetime import timedelta, datetime
dt = datetime(2022, 12, 31)
td = timedelta(days=1)
print(dt + td)
# Output: 2023-01-01 00:00:00
td2 = timedelta(days=3)
print(td + td2)
# Output: 4:00:00Comparing timedeltas
You can use the standard comparison operators ( <, >, ==, etc. ) to compare two timedelta objects.
For example:
from datetime import timedelta
td1 = timedelta(days=1)
td2 = timedelta(hours=24)
print(td1 == td2) # Output: Truetimedelta attributes
You can use the days, seconds, microseconds attributes of a timedelta object to extract the individual components of the duration.
For example:
from datetime import timedelta
td = timedelta(days=1, seconds=3600)
print(td.days) # Output: 1
print(td.seconds) # Output: 3600
print(td.microseconds) # Output: 0In this guide, I have provided an overview of the date, time, datetime, and timedelta classes in the Python datetime module.
I have shown how to create date and time objects, extract their components, perform arithmetic with them, and format them as strings.
With the knowledge of these classes and their methods, you should be able to work with dates and times in your Python programs.