Datetime

The datetime module is Python’s built-in library for handling dates, times, time zones, and formatting. It provides powerful features for manipulating and working with dates efficiently.
Author

Benedict Thekkel

1. Importing the datetime Module

import datetime

This gives access to various date and time classes:
- datetime.date → Handles only dates.
- datetime.time → Handles only times.
- datetime.datetime → Handles both date and time.
- datetime.timedelta → Represents time differences.
- datetime.timezone → Handles time zones (replacement for pytz).

2. Working with Dates

The date class handles year, month, and day.

A) Get Today’s Date

today = datetime.date.today()
print(today)  # e.g., 2025-01-31

B) Create a Specific Date

d = datetime.date(2025, 1, 31)
print(d)  # 2025-01-31

C) Extracting Date Components

print(d.year)   # 2025
print(d.month)  # 1
print(d.day)    # 31

D) Formatting a Date

formatted_date = d.strftime("%B %d, %Y")
print(formatted_date)  # January 31, 2025

Common Date Formats: - %Y-%m-%d → 2025-01-31 - %B %d, %Y → January 31, 2025 - %d/%m/%Y → 31/01/2025

3. Working with Time

The time class handles hours, minutes, seconds, and microseconds.

A) Create a Specific Time

t = datetime.time(14, 30, 45)  # 14:30:45
print(t)  # 14:30:45

B) Extracting Time Components

print(t.hour)   # 14
print(tDatetime.minute) # 30
print(t.second) # 45

C) Formatting Time

formatted_time = t.strftime("%I:%M %p")  
print(formatted_time)  # 02:30 PM (12-hour format)

4. Working with Date and Time Together

The datetime class represents both date and time.

A) Get the Current Date & Time

now = datetime.datetime.now()
print(now)  # 2025-01-31 14:30:45.123456

B) Create a Specific Date & Time

dt = datetime.datetime(2025, 1, 31, 14, 30, 45)
print(dt)  # 2025-01-31 14:30:45

C) Extract Components

print(dt.year)    # 2025
print(dt.month)   # 1
print(dt.day)     # 31
print(dt.hour)    # 14
print(dt.minute)  # 30
print(dt.second)  # 45

D) Formatting Date & Time

formatted_dt = dt.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
print(formatted_dt)  # 2025-01-31 14:30:45

5. Time Differences with timedelta

A timedelta represents a duration between two datetime objects.

A) Create a timedelta

delta = datetime.timedelta(days=5, hours=3, minutes=30)
print(delta)  # 5 days, 3:30:00

B) Add/Subtract a timedelta

future_date = today + delta
print(future_date)  # 2025-02-05

past_date = today - delta
print(past_date)  # 2025-01-26

C) Difference Between Two Dates

date1 = datetime.date(2025, 2, 10)
date2 = datetime.date(2025, 1, 31)

difference = date1 - date2
print(difference.days)  # 10

6. Handling Time Zones (datetime.timezone)

Instead of using pytz, Python has built-in timezone support using datetime.timezone.

A) Get UTC Time

utc_now = datetime.datetime.now(datetime.timezone.utc)
print(utc_now)  # 2025-01-31 12:00:00+00:00

B) Define a Fixed Offset Time Zone

To create a timezone with a fixed UTC offset:

offset = datetime.timedelta(hours=5, minutes=30)  # UTC+5:30
ist = datetime.timezone(offset, name="IST")

dt = datetime.datetime(2025, 1, 31, 14, 30, tzinfo=ist)
print(dt)  # 2025-01-31 14:30:00+05:30

C) Convert Between Time Zones

utc_now = datetime.datetime.now(datetime.timezone.utc)
ist = datetime.timezone(datetime.timedelta(hours=5, minutes=30))  # UTC+5:30

ist_now = utc_now.astimezone(ist)
print(ist_now)  # Converts to IST timezone

7. Parsing Strings into datetime (strptime)

Convert a string into a datetime object:

date_string = "31-01-2025 14:30"
dt = datetime.datetime.strptime(date_string, "%d-%m-%Y %H:%M")
print(dt)  # 2025-01-31 14:30:00

8. Comparing Dates & Times

d1 = datetime.date(2025, 1, 31)
d2 = datetime.date(2025, 2, 1)

print(d1 < d2)  # True
print(d1 == d2)  # False

For datetime objects:

dt1 = datetime.datetime(2025, 1, 31, 12, 0)
dt2 = datetime.datetime(2025, 1, 31, 14, 0)

print(dt1 < dt2)  # True

9. Generating Timestamps

A) Get the Current Unix Timestamp

timestamp = datetime.datetime.now().timestamp()
print(timestamp)  # e.g., 1738293600.123456

B) Convert Timestamp to datetime

dt_from_timestamp = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(1738293600)
print(dt_from_timestamp)

10. Using datetime in JSON Serialization

Python’s datetime is not JSON serializable by default:

import json

now = datetime.datetime.now()
json.dumps({"timestamp": now})  # TypeError: Object of type datetime is not JSON serializable

Solution: Convert to String

json.dumps({"timestamp": now.isoformat()})

Solution: Convert to Unix Timestamp

json.dumps({"timestamp": now.timestamp()})

Summary

Feature Code Example
Get Today’s Date datetime.date.today()
Get Current Time datetime.datetime.now().time()
Create a Date datetime.date(2025, 1, 31)
Create a Time datetime.time(14, 30, 45)
Get Date & Time datetime.datetime.now()
Format Date .strftime("%Y-%m-%d")
Convert String to Date .strptime("31-01-2025", "%d-%m-%Y")
Add 5 Days date + timedelta(days=5)
Get UTC Time datetime.datetime.now(datetime.timezone.utc)
Convert Time Zones .astimezone(new_timezone)

Conclusion

  • datetime is Python’s built-in solution for working with dates and times.
  • datetime.timezone (not pytz) provides native timezone handling.
  • timedelta helps add/subtract time.
  • String parsing (strptime) and formatting (strftime) are essential for conversions.
  • Always consider time zones when working with global applications.

This guide covers everything you need to master datetime! 🚀

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