Python datetime Module

Getting the Current Date and Time

The datetime module offers two closely related classes: date, for a calendar date, and datetime, which additionally stores the time down to microseconds. Both provide a shortcut to get "right now".

from datetime import date, datetime

today = date.today()
now = datetime.now()

print(today)
print(now)

Formatting Dates With strftime

strftime converts a date or datetime object into a custom text string, using format codes that stand for pieces like the year, month, or day.

now = datetime.now()
print(now.strftime("%d-%m-%Y"))
print(now.strftime("%A, %B %d, %Y"))

Parsing Text Into Dates With strptime

strptime does the reverse — it reads a text string and turns it into a real datetime object, as long as you tell it exactly what format the text is in.

text = "10-07-2026"
parsed = datetime.strptime(text, "%d-%m-%Y")
print(parsed)

Common Format Codes

Doing Date Math With timedelta

timedelta represents a span of time, letting you add or subtract days, hours, or minutes from a date — perfect for calculating deadlines or expiry dates.

from datetime import timedelta

today = date.today()
next_week = today + timedelta(days=7)
print(next_week)