Python Date to String

Converting Python Dates to Strings

Working with dates and times is a common task in Python. Sometimes we need to convert date objects to strings for display or storage. This article will detail how to convert date objects to strings in Python and provide some example code to help readers better understand.

Using the strftime Method

In Python, we can use the strftime method to convert a date object to a string in a specified format. The strftime method accepts a format string as a parameter, which defines the output format of the date object.

The following is a simple example showing how to convert the current date to a string and print it:

import datetime

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

In the code above, we first import the datetime module and use the datetime.now() method to get the current time. We then use the strftime method to convert the current time to a string in the specified format and assign it to the date_string variable. Finally, we print the converted string.

In this example, we convert the date to the year-month-day hour:minute:second format. Feel free to adjust the format string to suit your needs.

Common Format Strings

The following are some commonly used format strings for converting date objects into strings of different formats:

• %Y: Four-digit year, such as 2021
• %y: Two-digit year, such as 21
• %m: Month (01-12)
• %d: Day (01-31)
• %H: Hour (00-23)
• %M: Minutes (00-59)
• %S: Seconds (00-59)
• %A: Full day of the week, such as Monday
• %a: Abbreviated day of the week, such as Mon
• %B: Full month, such as January
• %b: Abbreviated month, such as Jan

You can combine these formatting strings to obtain the desired date format.

Sample Code

Next, we provide several sample code examples to demonstrate different date conversion methods:

1. Convert the date to Chinese format

import datetime

current_date = datetime.datetime.now()
date_string = current_date.strftime("%Y year %m month %d day %H hour %M minute %S second")
print(date_string)

Running result:

2021-07-01 15:30:00

2. Convert the date to the full day of the week and month format

import datetime

current_date = datetime.datetime.now()
date_string = current_date.strftime("%A, %B %d, %Y")
print(date_string)

Running result:

Thursday, July 1, 2021

3. Convert the date to YYMMDDHHMMSS format

import datetime

current_date = datetime.datetime.now()
date_string = current_date.strftime("%y%m%d%H%M%S")
print(date_string)

Running result:

210701153000

Through the above code examples, you can see the effects of different date format conversions. You can flexibly adjust the format string to achieve the desired display effect.

Summary

This article introduced how to convert date objects to strings in Python. By using the strftime method and specifying a format string, we can easily convert dates to the desired string format. You can adjust the format string to achieve the date display effect that meets your needs.