Working with dates and times is a common requirement in many Python applications — from logging and timestamps to time-based data processing and automation. Python’s built-in datetime module provides a powerful and flexible set of tools for handling these tasks.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn:

• What the datetime module is

• How to work with dates and times

• Formatting and parsing date strings

• Performing date arithmetic

• Real-world use cases

• Tips and common pitfalls

What is the datetime Module?

Python’s datetime module supplies classes for manipulating dates and times in both simple and complex ways. It supports:

• Date and time arithmetic

• Time zones

• Formatting and parsing

• And more

To use it, you simply:

import datetime

Core Classes in datetime

Working with Dates

Create a date object:

from datetime import date

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

Access date components:

print(today.year)
print(today.month)
print(today.day)

Create a specific date:

d = date(2025, 12, 25)
print("Christmas:", d)

⏰ Working with Time

from datetime import time

t = time(14, 30, 45)
print("Time:", t)  # Output: 14:30:45
print("Hour:", t.hour)

Working with Date and Time

from datetime import datetime

now = datetime.now()
print("Current datetime:", now)

specific = datetime(2025, 5, 7, 14, 0)
print("Specific datetime:", specific)

Replace components:

new_time = now.replace(hour=9, minute=0)
print("Modified time:", new_time)

Date Arithmetic with timedelta

from datetime import timedelta

delta = timedelta(days=7)
print("7 days:", delta)

future = datetime.now() + delta
print("One week from now:", future)

past = datetime.now() - timedelta(days=30)
print("30 days ago:", past)

Formatting Dates (strftime)

Convert a datetime object to a string:

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

Common format codes:

Parsing Dates (strptime)

Convert a string into a datetime object:

dt = datetime.strptime("2025-05-07 14:00:00", "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
print("Parsed datetime:", dt)

Working with Time Zones

from datetime import datetime, timezone, timedelta

utc_time = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
print("UTC Time:", utc_time)

# Create a time zone offset of +5:30 (e.g., IST)
ist = timezone(timedelta(hours=5, minutes=30))
local_time = utc_time.astimezone(ist)
print("IST Time:", local_time)

✅ Complete Example

from datetime import datetime, timedelta

# Get current date and time
now = datetime.now()
print("Now:", now)

# Add 10 days
future_date = now + timedelta(days=10)
print("10 days from now:", future_date)

# Format date
formatted = now.strftime("%A, %d %B %Y %I:%M %p")
print("Formatted:", formatted)

# Parse a date string
parsed = datetime.strptime("2025-12-31 23:59:59", "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
print("Parsed:", parsed)

# Difference in days
days_left = parsed - now
print("Days until new year:", days_left.days)

Tips for Using datetime

• ✅ Use datetime.now() for local time, datetime.utcnow() for UTC

• ✅ Use timedelta for date arithmetic instead of manually adjusting components

• ✅ Use strftime() for readable output and logging

• ✅ Use strptime() for parsing date strings into objects

• ✅ Leverage time zones with timezone if you work with multiple regions

⚠️ Common Pitfalls

Summary Table

Final Thoughts

The datetime module is a powerful tool for handling all your date and time needs in Python — whether it's scheduling, timestamping, logging, or working across time zones.

By mastering the datetime module, you’ll gain better control over time-based data in your applications and write cleaner, more accurate programs.