Python date and time code uses objects such as date, time, datetime, and timedelta instead of plain strings.
Use date objects for calendar days, datetime objects for exact moments, and timedelta objects for durations.
The safest date workflow is parse text once, calculate with date objects, then format text only when showing output.
Python's built-in datetime module provides classes for working with dates and times. The main classes are date, time, datetime, and timedelta.
from datetime import date, time, datetime
# Current date
today = date.today()
print(today) # 2024-01-15
print(today.year) # 2024
print(today.month) # 1
print(today.day) # 15
# Current date and time
now = datetime.now()
print(now) # 2024-01-15 14:30:45.123456
print(now.hour) # 14
print(now.minute) # 30
print(now.second) # 45
# UTC time
from datetime import timezone
utc_now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
print(utc_now)from datetime import date, time, datetime
# Specific date
birthday = date(1990, 6, 15)
print(birthday) # 1990-06-15
# Specific time
alarm = time(7, 30, 0)
print(alarm) # 07:30:00
# Specific datetime
event = datetime(2024, 12, 25, 18, 0, 0)
print(event) # 2024-12-25 18:00:00
# From timestamp (Unix time)
import time as t
ts = datetime.fromtimestamp(t.time())
print(ts)
# From ISO format string
dt = datetime.fromisoformat("2024-06-15T14:30:00")
print(dt)Use strftime() to format a datetime as a string.
from datetime import datetime
now = datetime(2024, 6, 15, 14, 30, 45)
print(now.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")) # 2024-06-15
print(now.strftime("%d/%m/%Y")) # 15/06/2024
print(now.strftime("%B %d, %Y")) # June 15, 2024
print(now.strftime("%A, %B %d, %Y")) # Saturday, June 15, 2024
print(now.strftime("%I:%M %p")) # 02:30 PM
print(now.strftime("%H:%M:%S")) # 14:30:45
print(now.strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S")) # ISO 8601
# Common format codes:
# %Y = 4-digit year %m = month (01-12) %d = day (01-31)
# %H = hour (00-23) %M = minute (00-59) %S = second (00-59)
# %I = hour (01-12) %p = AM/PM %A = weekday name
# %B = month name %j = day of year %W = week numberfrom datetime import datetime
# Parse a date string into a datetime object
dt = datetime.strptime("2024-06-15", "%Y-%m-%d")
print(dt) # 2024-06-15 00:00:00
dt2 = datetime.strptime("June 15, 2024 2:30 PM", "%B %d, %Y %I:%M %p")
print(dt2) # 2024-06-15 14:30:00
# Convert between formats
user_input = "15/06/2024"
parsed = datetime.strptime(user_input, "%d/%m/%Y")
formatted = parsed.strftime("%B %d, %Y")
print(formatted) # June 15, 2024from datetime import date, datetime, timedelta
today = date.today()
# Add/subtract days
tomorrow = today + timedelta(days=1)
last_week = today - timedelta(weeks=1)
next_month = today + timedelta(days=30)
print(tomorrow) # tomorrow's date
print(last_week) # 7 days ago
print(next_month) # 30 days from now
# Difference between two dates
start = date(2024, 1, 1)
end = date(2024, 12, 31)
diff = end - start
print(diff.days) # 365
# Age calculator
birthday = date(1990, 6, 15)
today = date.today()
age = today.year - birthday.year
if (today.month, today.day) < (birthday.month, birthday.day):
age -= 1
print(f"Age: {age}")
# Time difference
start_time = datetime(2024, 1, 1, 9, 0, 0)
end_time = datetime(2024, 1, 1, 17, 30, 0)
duration = end_time - start_time
print(duration) # 8:30:00
print(duration.seconds) # 30600 seconds
print(duration.seconds // 3600) # 8 hoursTry this next
0 of 3 completed
Store and calculate with date or datetime objects. Format as strings only when displaying or exporting.
timedelta represents a duration, such as 7 days or 3 hours, and is used for date arithmetic.
A time without timezone information can mean different moments in different places. Use aware datetimes for real-world timestamps.
Explore 500+ free tutorials across 20+ languages and frameworks.