Working with dates and times is essential in many applications, from scheduling tasks to logging events. Python provides powerful built-in modules, datetime and date, to handle date and time operations efficiently. In this guide, we will explore how to use these modules effectively with real-world examples.

1 Python datetime Module

1.1 Getting Current Date and Time

from datetime import datetime,timezone
now = datetime.now()
print("Current Date and Time:", now) #Current Date and Time: 2025-03-07 14:30:45.123456

# Get the current time in UTC (with timezone info)
# current_datetime_utc = datetime.now(timezone.utc)

1.2 Creating a Specific Date and Time

You can create a specific date and time using the datetime constructor:

custom_date = datetime(2024, 5, 15, 10, 30, 0)
print("Custom Date and Time:", custom_date)  # Custom Date and Time: 2024-05-15 10:30:00

1.3 Formatting Date and Time

Use strftime() to format date and time as a string:

formatted_date = now.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
print("Formatted Date:", formatted_date)

# Construct a date from a string in ISO 8601 format.
current_datetime_utc = '2025-03-04T11:00:16.645+00:00'
utc_time = datetime.fromisoformat(current_datetime_utc)

Common Format Codes:

1.4 Parsing a Date String

Use strptime() to convert a string into a datetime object:

date_str = "2024-05-15 10:30:00"
parsed_date = datetime.strptime(date_str, "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
print("Parsed Date:", parsed_date)

2. Python date Module

The date class is a simpler version of datetime, dealing only with dates.

2.1 Getting Today’s Date

from datetime import date

today = date.today()
print("Today's Date:", today)

2.2 Creating a Specific Date

custom_date = date(2025, 8, 20)
print("Custom Date:", custom_date)

2.3 Extracting Year, Month, and Day

print("Year:", today.year)
print("Month:", today.month)
print("Day:", today.day)

3. TimeDelta – Date Arithmetic

timedelta allows you to perform arithmetic on dates.

from datetime import timedelta

yesterday = today - timedelta(days=1)
tomorrow = today + timedelta(days=1)
print("Yesterday:", yesterday)
print("Tomorrow:", tomorrow)

You can also calculate differences between two dates:

future_date = date(2025, 12, 31)
difference = future_date - today
print("Days Until New Year 2026:", difference.days)

4. Handling Time Zones with pytz

To work with time zones, install pytz:

pip install pytz

4.1 Setting a Specific Time Zone

import pytz

timezone = pytz.timezone("Asia/Kathmandu")
kathmandu_time = datetime.now(timezone)
print("Kathmandu Time:", kathmandu_time)

from datetime import datetime
import pytz
utc_time = datetime.now()
local_timezone = pytz.timezone("Asia/kathmandu")
local_time = utc_time.astimezone(local_timezone)
print(local_time)