Python Project Guide: Times, Dates & Numbers

Handling times, dates, and numbers can seem simple, but time zones, leap years, and different formats make it a complex challenge. This guide covers the essential Python 3 modules for processing these complex data types, including datetime for handling dates and times, and shows how to convert between different numeral systems.

💻 Working with `datetime`

The datetime module is the primary tool for date and time manipulation in Python. It provides several useful objects.

• Getting the Current Time:

  from datetime import datetime
  
  now = datetime.today()
  print(now) # e.g., 2025-08-19 14:30:55.123456

• Time Calculations with `timedelta`: You can perform calculations by adding or subtracting timedelta objects.

  from datetime import timedelta
  
  yesterday = now - timedelta(days=1)
  difference = now - yesterday
  print(difference.days) # Output: 1

💻 Parsing and Formatting Strings

Often, you’ll need to convert a string into a datetime object, or format a datetime object into a string. The strptime and strftime methods are used for this.

• String to Datetime (`strptime`):

  my_string = "2025-09-23 21:30:15"
  a_date = datetime.strptime(my_string, "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")

• Datetime to String (`strftime`):

  # Format as Day-Month-Year
  formatted_string = a_date.strftime('%d-%m-%Y') # Output: '23-09-2025'

The format codes (like %Y for the full year) allow you to handle virtually any date and time format.

💻 Converting Between Numeral Systems

Python has built-in functions for working with different number bases, which is useful in many areas of computing.

• To Binary, Octal, Hex: The bin(), oct(), and hex() functions convert an integer to its string representation in that base.

  a_number = 10
  print(bin(a_number)) # Output: '0b1010'
  print(hex(a_number)) # Output: '0xa'

• From Other Bases to Integer: The int() function can take a second argument specifying the base of the input string.

  # Convert hexadecimal '10' to integer
  print(int('10', 16)) # Output: 16

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💻 Continue Your Learning Journey

• Python Project Guide: How to Get Started with Python 3
• Python Project Guide: Using Functions in Python 3
• Python Project Guide: Build an FTP Client & Server
• Python Project Guide: Making Scripts
• Python Project Guide: NumPy & SciPy: For Science!

More Topics

• Python Project Guide: NumPy & SciPy: For Science!
• Python Project Guide: Making Scripts
• Python Project Guide: Build an FTP Client & Server
• Python Project Guide: Using Functions in Python 3
• Python Project Guide: How to Get Started with Python 3
• Coding Concepts Explained: Avoid Common Coding Mistakes
• Coding Concepts Explained: The Magic of Compilers