(Python Tutorial – 044)
Python strftime()
In this article, you will learn to convert date, time and datetime objects to its equivalent string (with the help of examples)
The strftime()
method returns a string representing date and time using date, time or datetime object.
Example 1: datetime to string using strftime()
The program below converts a datetime
object containing current date and time to different string formats.
from datetime import datetime
now = datetime.now() # current date and time
year = now.strftime("%Y")
print("year:", year)
month = now.strftime("%m")
print("month:", month)
day = now.strftime("%d")
print("day:", day)
time = now.strftime("%H:%M:%S")
print("time:", time)
date_time = now.strftime("%m/%d/%Y, %H:%M:%S")
print("date and time:",date_time)
When you run the program, the output will something like be:
year: 2020 month: 07 day: 02 time: 09:59:31 date and time: 07/02/2020, 09:59:31
Here, year, day, time and date_time are strings, whereas now is a datetime
object.
How strftime() works?
In the above program, %Y
, %m
, %d
etc. are format codes. The strftime()
method takes one or more format codes as an argument and returns a formatted string based on it.
- We imported
datetime
class from thedatetime
module. It’s because the object ofdatetime
class can accessstrftime()
method.
- The
datetime
object containing current date and time is stored in now variable.
- The
strftime()
method can be used to create formatted strings.
- The string you pass to the
strftime()
method may contain more than one format codes.
Example 2: Creating string from a timestamp
from datetime import datetime
timestamp = 1528797322
date_time = datetime.fromtimestamp(timestamp)
print("Date time object:", date_time)
d = date_time.strftime("%m/%d/%Y, %H:%M:%S")
print("Output 2:", d)
d = date_time.strftime("%d %b, %Y")
print("Output 3:", d)
d = date_time.strftime("%d %B, %Y")
print("Output 4:", d)
d = date_time.strftime("%I%p")
print("Output 5:", d)
When you run the program, the output will be:
Date time object: 2018-06-12 09:55:22 Output 2: 06/12/2018, 09:55:22 Output 3: 12 Jun, 2018 Output 4: 12 June, 2018 Output 5: 09AM
Format Code List
The table below shows all the codes that you can pass to the strftime()
method.
Directive | Meaning | Example |
%a |
Abbreviated weekday name. | Sun, Mon, … |
%A |
Full weekday name. | Sunday, Monday, … |
%w |
Weekday as a decimal number. | 0, 1, …, 6 |
%d |
Day of the month as a zero-padded decimal. | 01, 02, …, 31 |
%-d |
Day of the month as a decimal number. | 1, 2, …, 30 |
%b |
Abbreviated month name. | Jan, Feb, …, Dec |
%B |
Full month name. | January, February, … |
%m |
Month as a zero-padded decimal number. | 01, 02, …, 12 |
%-m |
Month as a decimal number. | 1, 2, …, 12 |
%y |
Year without century as a zero-padded decimal number. | 00, 01, …, 99 |
%-y |
Year without century as a decimal number. | 0, 1, …, 99 |
%Y |
Year with century as a decimal number. | 2013, 2019 etc. |
%H |
Hour (24-hour clock) as a zero-padded decimal number. | 00, 01, …, 23 |
%-H |
Hour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number. | 0, 1, …, 23 |
%I |
Hour (12-hour clock) as a zero-padded decimal number. | 01, 02, …, 12 |
%-I |
Hour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number. | 1, 2, … 12 |
%p |
Locale’s AM or PM. | AM, PM |
%M |
Minute as a zero-padded decimal number. | 00, 01, …, 59 |
%-M |
Minute as a decimal number. | 0, 1, …, 59 |
%S |
Second as a zero-padded decimal number. | 00, 01, …, 59 |
%-S |
Second as a decimal number. | 0, 1, …, 59 |
%f |
Microsecond as a decimal number, zero-padded on the left. | 000000 – 999999 |
%z |
UTC offset in the form +HHMM or -HHMM. | |
%Z |
Time zone name. | |
%j |
Day of the year as a zero-padded decimal number. | 001, 002, …, 366 |
%-j |
Day of the year as a decimal number. | 1, 2, …, 366 |
%U |
Week number of the year (Sunday as the first day of the week). All days in a new year preceding the first Sunday are considered to be in week 0. | 00, 01, …, 53 |
%W |
Week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week). All days in a new year preceding the first Monday are considered to be in week 0. | 00, 01, …, 53 |
%c |
Locale’s appropriate date and time representation. | Mon Sep 30 07:06:05 2013 |
%x |
Locale’s appropriate date representation. | 09/30/13 |
%X |
Locale’s appropriate time representation. | 07:06:05 |
%% |
A literal ‘%’ character. | % |
We also recommend you to check Python strptime(). The strptime()
method creates a datetime
object from a string.
Disclaimer: The information and code presented within this recipe/tutorial is only for educational and coaching purposes for beginners and developers. Anyone can practice and apply the recipe/tutorial presented here, but the reader is taking full responsibility for his/her actions. The author (content curator) of this recipe (code / program) has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information was correct at time of publication. The author (content curator) does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from accident, negligence, or any other cause. The information presented here could also be found in public knowledge domains.
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