1. Python built- in package Datetime has four objects: datetime, date, time and timedelta.
import datetime as dt
date_time = [Link](2015, 3, 21, 22, 0, 0) #2015-03-21 [Link]
date = [Link](2015, 3, 22) #2015-03-22
time = [Link](21, 30, 00) #[Link]
time_delta = [Link](days=1) #1 day, [Link]
2. Datetime object has some useful methods, such as now, today, weekday, combine, strftime and
strptime.
import datetime as dt
now = [Link]() #2015-03-20 [Link].404000
today = [Link]() #2015-03-20 [Link].404000
weekday = [Link]() #4, Mon=0, Sun=6
strftime = [Link]('%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S.%f')
date = [Link](2015, 3, 22)
time = [Link](21, 30, 00)
combine = [Link](date, time) #2015-03-22 [Link]
string = '2015-03-22 [Link].123'
format = '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%f'
strptime = [Link](string, format)
3. Timedelta is a useful object for date mathematics.
import datetime as dt
date_time = [Link](2015, 3, 21, 22, 0, 0)
date = [Link](2015, 3, 22)
time_delta = [Link](days=1, seconds=10)
date_time + time_delta #2015-03-22 [Link] type: [Link]
date + time_delta #2015-03-22 type: [Link]
#Note: timedelta object is only for datetime and date objects, not
for time object.
4. Use replace method to modify dates, times and datetimes.
import datetime as dt
date_time = [Link](2015, 3, 21, 22, 0, 0)
replace = date_time.replace(year=2012, month=9) #2012-09-21 [Link]
Author: Peng Xu
References:
[Link]
Sheppard, Kevin. "Introduction to Python for econometrics, statistics and data analysis.", University
of Oxford, version 2 (2014).