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Python Dates


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.
Example
Import the datetime module and display the current date:
import datetime
x = datetime.datetime.now()
print(x)

Date Output
When we execute the code from the example above the result will be:
2022-12-07 11:26:07.711930
The date contains year, month, day, hour, minute, second, and microsecond.
The datetime module has many methods to return information about the date object.
Here are a few examples, you will learn more about them later in this chapter:

Example 
Return the year and name of weekday:
import datetime
x = datetime.datetime.now()
print(x.year)
print(x.strftime("%A"))
Creating Date Objects
To create a date, we can use the datetime() class (constructor) of the datetime module.
The datetime() class requires three parameters to create a date: year, month, day.

Example 
    
Create a date object:
import datetime
x = datetime.datetime(2020, 5, 17)
print(x)
The datetime() class also takes parameters for time and timezone (hour, minute, second, microsecond, tzone), but they are optional, and has a default value of 0, (None for timezone).

The strftime() Method
The datetime object has a method for formatting date objects into readable strings.
The method is called strftime(), and takes one parameter, format, to specify the format of the returned string:

Example 
Display the name of the month:

import datetime
x = datetime.datetime(2018, 6, 1)
print(x.strftime("%B"))

A reference of all the legal format codes:
Directive Description Example
%a Weekday, short version Wed
%A Weekday, full version Wednesday
%w Weekday as a number 0-6, 0 is Sunday 3
%d Day of month 01-31 24
%b Month name, short version Dec
%B Month name, full version December
%m Month as a number 01-12 12
%y Year, short version, without century 23
%Y Year, full version 2023
%H Hour 00-23 14
% Division x%y
%I Hour 00-12 2
%p AM/PM PM
%M Minute 00-59 24
%S Second 00-59 24
%f Microsecond 000000-999999 563467
%z UTC offset +0100
%Z Timezone IST
%j Day number of year 001-366 365
%U Week number of year, Sunday as the first day of week, 00-53 52
%W Week number of year, Monday as the first day of week, 00-53 52
%c Local version of date and time Sat Dec 31 17:41:00 2022
%C Century 20
%x Local version of date 12/31/22
%X Local version of time 17:41:00
%% A % character %
%G ISO 8601 year 2023
%u ISO 8601 weekday (1-7 1
%V ISO 8601 weeknumber (01-53) 01

Key Points

Image
Weekday, short version
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%a"))

if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Weekday, full version
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%A"))


if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Weekday as a number 0-6, 0 is Sunday
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%w"))



if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Day of month 01-31
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%d"))



if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Month name, short version
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%b"))




if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Month name, full version
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%B"))





if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Month as a number 01-12
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%m"))






if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Year, short version, without century
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%y"))

if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Year, full version
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%Y"))

if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Hour 00-23
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%H"))


if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Hour 00-12
import datetime
def myfun():
   x = datetime.datetime.now()
   print(x.strftime("%I"))

if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
AM/PM
import datetime
def myfun():
   x = datetime.datetime.now()
   print(x.strftime("%p"))

if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Minute 00-59
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%M"))

if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Second 00-59
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%S"))


if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Microsecond 000000-999999
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%f"))


if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Day number of year 001-366
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%j"))



if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Week number of year, Sunday as the first day of week, 00-53
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%U"))

if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Week number of year, Monday as the first day of week, 00-53
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime(2018, 5, 31)
    print(x.strftime("%W"))

if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Local version of date and time
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%c"))

if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Century
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%C"))

if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Local version of date
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%x"))

if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
Local version of time
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%X"))


if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
A % character
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%%"))

if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
ISO 8601 year
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%G"))


if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
ISO 8601 weekday (1-7)
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%u"))



if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output:
ISO 8601 weeknumber (01-53)
import datetime
def myfun():
    x = datetime.datetime.now()
    print(x.strftime("%V"))


if __name__=="__main__":
    myfun()
Output: