Python

Python Date and Time

Python provides the datetime module for working with dates, times, and date-time values.

It is useful for:

  • Getting the current date and time
  • Creating dates
  • Creating times
  • Formatting dates
  • Comparing dates
  • Calculating differences between dates
  • Adding and subtracting time
  • Working with timestamps
  • Handling birthdays, deadlines, bookings, and schedules

Import the datetime Module

import datetime

Python's datetime module provides several important classes:

date       → Work with dates
time       → Work with time
datetime   → Work with date + time
timedelta  → Calculate differences between dates/times

Get the Current Date

from datetime import date

today = date.today()

print(today)

Output:

2026-09-01

The exact output depends on the day the program runs.

Get the Current Date and Time

from datetime import datetime

now = datetime.now()

print(now)

Example output:

2026-09-01 23:08:15.452381

The result contains:

Year-Month-Day Hour:Minute:Second

Get Only the Current Time

from datetime import datetime

current_time = datetime.now().time()

print(current_time)

Example output:

23:08:15.452381

Create a Specific Date

You can create a date using date().

from datetime import date

birthday = date(2000, 5, 15)

print(birthday)

Output:

2000-05-15

The order is:

date(year, month, day)

Create a Specific Time

Use the time() class.

from datetime import time

meeting_time = time(10, 30, 0)

print(meeting_time)

Output:

10:30:00

The format is:

time(hour, minute, second)

Create a Specific Date and Time

Use datetime().

from datetime import datetime

meeting = datetime(
    2026,
    9,
    15,
    10,
    30
)

print(meeting)

Output:

2026-09-15 10:30:00

Access Date Components

You can access individual parts of a date.

from datetime import datetime

now = datetime.now()

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

Example output:

Year: 2026
Month: 9
Day: 1

Access Time Components

from datetime import datetime

now = datetime.now()

print("Hour:", now.hour)
print("Minute:", now.minute)
print("Second:", now.second)

Example output:

Hour: 23
Minute: 8
Second: 15

Get the Day of the Week

The weekday() method returns a number from 0 to 6.

from datetime import date

today = date.today()

print(today.weekday())

The values are:

0 → Monday
1 → Tuesday
2 → Wednesday
3 → Thursday
4 → Friday
5 → Saturday
6 → Sunday

Get the Day Name

You can use strftime() to get the day name.

from datetime import date

today = date.today()

print(today.strftime("%A"))

Example output:

Tuesday

Get the Short Day Name

from datetime import date

today = date.today()

print(today.strftime("%a"))

Example output:

Tue

Get the Month Name

from datetime import date

today = date.today()

print(today.strftime("%B"))

Example output:

September

Get the Short Month Name

from datetime import date

today = date.today()

print(today.strftime("%b"))

Example output:

Sep

Format a Date with strftime()

strftime() converts a date or datetime object into a formatted string.

from datetime import datetime

now = datetime.now()

formatted = now.strftime(
    "%d-%m-%Y"
)

print(formatted)

Example output:

01-09-2026

Common strftime() Codes

%Y → Full year       2026
%y → Short year      26
%m → Month number    09
%B → Full month      September
%b → Short month     Sep
%d → Day             01
%A → Full day        Tuesday
%a → Short day       Tue
%H → Hour (24-hour)  23
%I → Hour (12-hour)  11
%M → Minute           08
%S → Second           15
%p → AM/PM            PM

Format Date and Time

from datetime import datetime

now = datetime.now()

formatted = now.strftime(
    "%d-%m-%Y %H:%M:%S"
)

print(formatted)

Example output:

01-09-2026 23:08:15

12-Hour Time Format

Use %I and %p.

from datetime import datetime

now = datetime.now()

formatted = now.strftime(
    "%d-%m-%Y %I:%M:%S %p"
)

print(formatted)

Example output:

01-09-2026 11:08:15 PM

Convert String to Date with strptime()

strptime() converts a string into a datetime object.

from datetime import datetime

date_string = "15-09-2026"

date_object = datetime.strptime(
    date_string,
    "%d-%m-%Y"
)

print(date_object)

Output:

2026-09-15 00:00:00

Convert String to Date

If you only need a date object:

from datetime import datetime

date_string = "15-09-2026"

date_object = datetime.strptime(
    date_string,
    "%d-%m-%Y"
).date()

print(date_object)

Output:

2026-09-15

strftime() vs strptime()

These two methods are easy to confuse.

strftime()
    ↓
datetime → string
strptime()
    ↓
string → datetime

Example:

from datetime import datetime

now = datetime.now()

text = now.strftime("%d-%m-%Y")

date_object = datetime.strptime(
    text,
    "%d-%m-%Y"
)

print(text)
print(date_object)

Compare Two Dates

Python allows you to compare date objects.

from datetime import date

date1 = date(2026, 9, 1)
date2 = date(2026, 9, 15)

print(date1 < date2)
print(date1 > date2)
print(date1 == date2)

Output:

True
False
False

Check Whether a Date Has Passed

from datetime import date

today = date.today()
deadline = date(2026, 8, 20)

if today > deadline:
    print("Deadline has passed")
else:
    print("Deadline is still available")

Calculate Difference Between Dates

Use timedelta or subtract two dates.

from datetime import date

start = date(2026, 9, 1)
end = date(2026, 9, 15)

difference = end - start

print(difference)

Output:

14 days, 0:00:00

Get Difference in Days

from datetime import date

start = date(2026, 9, 1)
end = date(2026, 9, 15)

difference = end - start

print(difference.days)

Output:

14

Using timedelta

timedelta represents a duration.

from datetime import timedelta

duration = timedelta(days=10)

print(duration)

Output:

10 days, 0:00:00

Add Days to a Date

from datetime import date, timedelta

today = date.today()

future_date = today + timedelta(days=7)

print("Today:", today)
print("After 7 days:", future_date)

Subtract Days from a Date

from datetime import date, timedelta

today = date.today()

previous_date = today - timedelta(days=7)

print("Today:", today)
print("7 days ago:", previous_date)

Add Weeks

from datetime import date, timedelta

today = date.today()

future_date = today + timedelta(weeks=4)

print(future_date)

Add Hours

timedelta can also work with hours.

from datetime import datetime, timedelta

now = datetime.now()

future = now + timedelta(hours=5)

print(future)

Add Minutes

from datetime import datetime, timedelta

now = datetime.now()

future = now + timedelta(minutes=30)

print(future)

Add Seconds

from datetime import datetime, timedelta

now = datetime.now()

future = now + timedelta(seconds=45)

print(future)

Calculate Age

You can calculate an approximate age using dates.

from datetime import date

birth_date = date(2000, 5, 15)
today = date.today()

age = today.year - birth_date.year

if (today.month, today.day) < (
    birth_date.month,
    birth_date.day
):
    age -= 1

print("Age:", age)

Calculate Days Until a Date

from datetime import date

today = date.today()
event_date = date(2026, 12, 25)

days_left = (event_date - today).days

print("Days left:", days_left)

Practical Example : Course Deadline

from datetime import date

today = date.today()
deadline = date(2026, 9, 30)

days_left = (deadline - today).days

if days_left > 0:
    print(
        "Days remaining:",
        days_left
    )
elif days_left == 0:
    print("Deadline is today")
else:
    print("Deadline has passed")

Practical Example : Student Assignment

from datetime import date

submission_date = date(2026, 9, 10)
today = date.today()

if today <= submission_date:
    remaining = (
        submission_date - today
    ).days

    print(
        "Days remaining:",
        remaining
    )
else:
    print("Assignment deadline passed")

Practical Example : Booking Date

from datetime import datetime

booking = datetime(
    2026,
    9,
    20,
    14,
    30
)

print(
    booking.strftime(
        "%d %B %Y at %I:%M %p"
    )
)

Output:

20 September 2026 at 02:30 PM

Practical Example : Generate Dates

You can use timedelta with a loop.

from datetime import date, timedelta

start = date(2026, 9, 1)

for i in range(7):
    current = start + timedelta(days=i)
    print(current)

Output:

2026-09-01
2026-09-02
2026-09-03
2026-09-04
2026-09-05
2026-09-06
2026-09-07

Practical Example : Generate Formatted Dates

from datetime import date, timedelta

start = date(2026, 9, 1)

for i in range(7):
    current = start + timedelta(days=i)

    print(
        current.strftime(
            "%d-%m-%Y"
        )
    )

Practical Example : Find Weekend

from datetime import date

today = date.today()

if today.weekday() >= 5:
    print("Weekend")
else:
    print("Weekday")

Here:

5 → Saturday
6 → Sunday

Practical Example : Check Birth Month

from datetime import date

birth_date = date(2000, 5, 15)
today = date.today()

if birth_date.month == today.month:
    print("Birthday month!")
else:
    print("Not the birthday month")

Practical Example : Calculate Working Days

A simple example can exclude Saturday and Sunday.

from datetime import date, timedelta

start = date(2026, 9, 1)
end = date(2026, 9, 10)

working_days = 0 current = start

while current <= end:
    if current.weekday() < 5:
        working_days += 1

    current += timedelta(days=1)

print("Working days:", working_days)

Timestamp

A timestamp represents a point in time as the number of seconds relative to the Unix epoch.

You can get the current timestamp using:

from datetime import datetime

timestamp = datetime.now().timestamp()

print(timestamp)

Example output:

1788275295.452381

The exact value changes continuously.

Convert Timestamp to Date and Time

from datetime import datetime

timestamp = 1788275295

result = datetime.fromtimestamp(
    timestamp
)

print(result)

Date Formatting for Websites

When developing websites, dates often need to be displayed in a user-friendly format.

from datetime import datetime

date_value = datetime.now()

print(
    date_value.strftime(
        "%B %d, %Y"
    )
)

Example output:

September 01, 2026

Another format:

print(
    date_value.strftime(
        "%d %b %Y"
    )
)

Example output:

01 Sep 2026

Important Methods and Classes

date.today()             → Current date
datetime.now()           → Current date and time
datetime.date()          → Get date from datetime
datetime.time()          → Get time from datetime
strftime()               → Date/time → string
strptime()               → String → datetime
weekday()                → Day number
timedelta()              → Time duration
timestamp()              → Convert to timestamp
fromtimestamp()          → Timestamp → datetime

Date and Time Cheat Sheet

from datetime import date, datetime, timedelta

Current date:

date.today()

Current date and time:

datetime.now()

Create date:

date(2026, 9, 1)

Create datetime:

datetime(2026, 9, 1, 10, 30)

Format date:

datetime.now().strftime("%d-%m-%Y")

Convert string:

datetime.strptime(
    "01-09-2026",
    "%d-%m-%Y"
)

Add days:

datetime.now() + timedelta(days=7)

Subtract days:

datetime.now() - timedelta(days=7)

Difference:

date2 - date1

Important Points to Remember

date
  ↓
Only date

time
  ↓
Only time

datetime
  ↓
Date + time

timedelta
  ↓
Difference/duration

And remember:

strftime() → datetime to string
strptime() → string to datetime

Mini Practice

Try solving these yourself:

from datetime import date, datetime, timedelta

# 1. Print today's date

# 2. Print current date and time

# 3. Create your birth date

# 4. Calculate your age

# 5. Calculate the date after 30 days

# 6. Calculate the date 30 days ago

# 7. Calculate days between two dates

# 8. Display today's date as: #    01 September 2026

# 9. Check whether today is a weekend

# 10. Find how many days remain until #     a given deadline
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