The datetime module is a built-in Python library used to manage dates and times efficiently and accurately.
It provides classes to represent dates (date), times (time), date-time combinations (datetime), and time intervals (timedelta), along with functions to compare, add, subtract, format, and convert temporal values.
It is essential for tasks such as:
- Logging events and timestamps
- Performing time difference calculations
- Converting between date/time formats
- Developing scheduling or real-time applications
Code examples
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
# Current date and time
now = datetime.now()
print("Now:", now)
# Custom format
print(now.strftime("%d/%m/%Y %H:%M"))
# Future date (+7 days)
future = now + timedelta(days=7)
print("In one week:", future.strftime("%d/%m/%Y"))
Additional notes
strftime()→ converts a datetime object into a formatted string.strptime()→ parses a string into adatetimeobject.timedeltaallows arithmetic operations on date and time values.
