Python Dates 📅

The datetime Module

A date in Python is not a data type of its own, but we can import a module named datetime to work with dates as date objects.

📆 Analogy: The Digital Calendar

Think of the datetime module as a super-powered Digital Calendar & Stopwatch.
- It knows exactly what time it is right now (now()).
- It can calculate "3 days from now" without you counting on your fingers (timedelta).
- It can write the date in any language or format you want (strftime).

✨ Current Date and Time

python

import datetime

now = datetime.datetime.now()
print(now)
# Output: 2023-10-27 14:30:00.123456

🛠️ Creating Date Objects

To create a date, use the datetime() constructor.

python

# Year, Month, Day
x = datetime.datetime(2020, 5, 17)
print(x)

📝 Formatting Dates (strftime)

The strftime() method formats date objects into readable strings.

python

x = datetime.datetime(2018, 6, 1)

print(x.strftime("%B")) # June (Full month name)
print(x.strftime("%A")) # Friday (Full weekday name)
print(x.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")) # 2018-06-01

⏳ Time Deltas

You can calculate the difference between two dates or add time to a date using timedelta.

python

from datetime import datetime, timedelta

now = datetime.now()
tomorrow = now + timedelta(days=1)

print(f"Tomorrow: {tomorrow}")

✨ Pro Tip: ISO Format

When storing dates in a database or API, always use the standard ISO 8601 format. Python makes this easy:

python

import datetime
x = datetime.datetime.now()
print(x.isoformat()) # 2023-10-27T14:30:00.123456

💡 Common Format Codes

%a: Weekday short (Wed)

%A: Weekday full (Wednesday)

%b: Month short (Dec)

%B: Month full (December)

%d: Day (01-31)

%m: Month (01-12)

%Y: Year (2023)

%H: Hour (00-23)

%M: Minute (00-59)

%S: Second (00-59)