SoFunction
Updated on 2024-12-20

Python Beginner's Tutorial (XXVII) Python's Date

Python Date

Dates in Python are not their own datatype, but you can import a module called datetime that treats dates as date objects.

an actual example

Import the datetime module and display the current date:

import datetime

x = ()
print(x)

running example

2023-02-14 20:43:20.889388

date output

If we execute the above code, the result will be:

2019-08-14 12:52:55.817273

The date contains year, month, day, hour, minute, second and microsecond.

The datetime module has a number of methods that return information about the date object.

Here are some examples; you'll learn about them in detail later in this chapter:

an actual example

Returns the name of weekday and the year:

import datetime

x = ()

print()
print(("%A"))

running example

2023
Tuesday

Creating Date Objects

To create a date, we can use the datetime() class (constructor) of the datetime module.

The datetime() class takes three arguments to create a date: year, month, and day.

an actual example

Creates a date object:

import datetime

x = (2020, 5, 17)

print(x)

running example

2020-05-17 00:00:00

The datetime() class also accepts time and timezone (hours, minutes, seconds, microseconds, tzone) arguments, though they are optional and default to 0, (timezone defaults to None).

strftime() method

The datetime object has methods for formatting date objects into readable strings.

This method is called strftime() and uses a format argument to specify the format of the returned string:

an actual example

Displays the name of the month:

import datetime

x = (2019, 10, 1)

print(("%B"))

running example

October

Reference to all legal format codes:

Directive: %a Description: weekday, short version Example: wed

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%a"))

Run the instance:

Tue

Command: %A Description: weekday, full version Example: Wednesday

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%A"))

Run the instance:

Tuesday

Command: %w Description: Weekday, numbers 0-6, 0 is Sunday Example: 3

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%w"))

Run the instance:

2

Command: %d Description: day, number 01-31 Example: 31

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%d"))

Run the instance:

14

Command: %b Description: month name, short version Example: dec

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%b"))

Run the instance:

Feb

Command: %B Description: month name, full version Example: December

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%B"))

Run the instance:

February

Command: %m Description: month, numbers 01-12 Example: 12

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%m"))

Run the instance:

02

Instructions:%y Description: Year, short version, no century Example: 18

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%y"))

Run the instance:

23

Command: %Y Description: year, full version Example: 2018

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%Y"))

Run the instance:

2023

Command: %H Description: hour, 00-23 Example: 17

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%H"))

Run the instance:

20

Command: %I Description: hour, 00-12 Example: 05

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%I"))

Run the instance:

08

Command: %p Description: AM/PM Example: PM

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%p"))

Run the instance:

PM

Command: %M Description: minutes, 00-59 Example: 41

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%M"))

Run the instance:

57

Command: %S Description: seconds, 00-59 Example: 08

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%S"))

Run the instance:

02

Instruction: %f Description: subtle, 000000-999999 Example: 548513

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%f"))

Run the instance:

092953

Command: %j Description: number of days, 001-366 Example: 365

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%j"))

Run the instance:

045

Command: %U Description: number of weeks, first day of week is Sunday, 00-53 Example: 52

import datetime

x = (2018, 5, 30)

print(("%U"))

Command: %W Description: number of weeks, the first day of the week is Monday, 00-53 Example: 52

import datetime

x = (2018, 5, 31)

print(("%W"))

Run the instance:

22

Command: %c Description: local version of date and time Example: mon dec 31 17:41:00 2018

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%c"))

Run the instance:

Tue Feb 14 21:00:34 2023

Command: %x Description: local version of date Example: 12/31/18

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%x"))

Run the instance:

02/14/23

Command: %X Description: local version of time Example: 17:41:00

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%X"))

Run the instance:

21:01:34

Instruction: %% Description: A % character Example: %

import datetime

x = ()

print(("%%"))

Run the instance:

python_datetime_strftime_percent.py
%

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