Dates in Python
W O R K I N G W I T H D AT E S A N D T I M E S I N P Y T H O N
Max Shron
Data Scientist and Author
Course overview
Chapter 1: Dates and Calendars
Chapter 2: Combining Dates and Times
Chapter 3: Time zones and Daylight Saving
Chapter 4: Dates and Times in Pandas
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Dates in Python
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Why do we need a date class in Python?
two_hurricanes = ["10/7/2016", "6/21/2017"]
How would you:
Figure out how many days had elapsed?
Check that they were in order from earliest to latest?
Know which day of the week each was?
Filter out hurricanes which happened between certain dates?
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Creating date objects
# Import date
from datetime import date
# Create dates
two_hurricanes_dates = [date(2016, 10, 7), date(2017, 6, 21)]
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Attributes of a date
# Import date
from datetime import date
# Create dates
two_hurricanes_dates = [date(2016, 10, 7), date(2017, 6, 21)]
print(two_hurricanes_dates[0].year)
print(two_hurricanes_dates[0].month)
print(two_hurricanes_dates[0].day)
2016
10
7
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Finding the weekday of a date
print(two_hurricanes_dates[0].weekday())
Weekdays in Python
0 = Monday
1 = Tuesday
2 = Wednesday
...
6 = Sunday
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Dates in Python
W O R K I N G W I T H D AT E S A N D T I M E S I N P Y T H O N
Math with Dates
W O R K I N G W I T H D AT E S A N D T I M E S I N P Y T H O N
Max Shron
Data Scientist and Author
Math with dates
# Example numbers
a = 11
b = 14
l = [a, b]
# Find the least least in the list
print(min(l))
11
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Math with dates
# Subtract two numbers
print(b - a)
3
# Add 3 to a
print(a + 3)
14
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Math with dates
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Math with dates
# Import date
from datetime import date
# Create our dates
d1 = date(2017, 11, 5)
d2 = date(2017, 12, 4)
l = [d1, d2]
print(min(l))
2017-11-05
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Math with dates
# Subtract two dates
delta = d2 - d1
print(delta.days)
29
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Math with dates
# Import timedelta
from datetime import timedelta
# Create a 29 day timedelta
td = timedelta(days=29)
print(d1 + td)
2017-12-04
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Incrementing variables with +=
# Initialize x to be zero # Initialize x to be zero
x = 0 x = 0
# Increment x # Increment x
x = x + 1 x += 1
print(x) print(x)
1 1
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Let's Practice!
W O R K I N G W I T H D AT E S A N D T I M E S I N P Y T H O N
Turning dates into
strings
W O R K I N G W I T H D AT E S A N D T I M E S I N P Y T H O N
Max Shron
Data Scientist and Author
ISO 8601 format
from datetime import date
# Example date
d = date(2017, 11, 5)
# ISO format: YYYY-MM-DD
print(d)
2017-11-05
# Express the date in ISO 8601 format and put it in a list
print( [d.isoformat()] )
['2017-11-05']
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
ISO 8601 format
# A few dates that computers once had trouble with
some_dates = ['2000-01-01', '1999-12-31']
# Print them in order
print(sorted(some_dates))
['1999-12-31', '2000-01-01']
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Every other format
d.strftime()
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Every other format: strftime
# Example date
d = date(2017, 1, 5)
print(d.strftime("%Y"))
2017
# Format string with more text in it
print(d.strftime("Year is %Y"))
Year is 2017
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Every other format: strftime
# Format: YYYY/MM/DD
print(d.strftime("%Y/%m/%d"))
2017/01/05
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES IN PYTHON
Turning dates into
strings
W O R K I N G W I T H D AT E S A N D T I M E S I N P Y T H O N
