How To Convert String To Date In Python

When dealing with time and dates in Python, it can be necessary to convert a string to a date object frequently. When you need to manipulate or compare dates in your code,this procedure can be helpful.

In this blog, we’ll look at many methods for doing this in Python and talk about which one is the best.

Why is there a need to convert string to date?

1. Calculations involving time and dates: You must first convert the string to a date object if you wish to execute calculations involving dates, such as comparing two dates, sorting dates, or adding or removing days. Its important to learn how to convert string to datetime in python.
2. Data manipulation: To alter or do analysis on data that contains dates, you may need to convert string dates to date objects.
3. User input: If your programme allows users to enter dates, it’s likely that they will do so in a string. In order to validate the input and carry out any necessary computations or manipulations, the string must be converted to a date object.
4. Data storage: Dates may be saved as strings in a database or other type of data storage system. If you need to retrieve the data to do computations or manipulations, you must convert the strings to date objects first.
5. Date formatting: You may need to convert the date object back to a string using a certain format string if you wish to display dates in a particular format.

Generally, when working with time and dates in Python, converting a string to a date object is a typical operation that can be helpful for a variety of applications.

Different Approaches to convert string to date

There are three different approaches to convert string into date in python.

1. Using datetime.strptime()
2. Using dateutil.parser.parse()
3. Using pandas.to_datetime()

Detailed Explanation

1. Using datetime.strptime() to change string to date

One way to convert a string to a date in Python is to use the datetime.strptime() function. This function parses a string representing a date and time and returns a datetime object

Sample Code:

 # Import the datetime module
from datetime import datetime

# Initialize a string variable containing a date
date_str = '2022-01-15'

# Convert the string to a datetime object
date_obj = datetime.strptime(date_str, '%Y-%m-%d')

# Print the data type
print(type(date_obj))

# Print the datetime object
print(date_obj)

Output:

<class 'datetime.datetime'>
2022-01-15 00:00:00

Code Example:

1. Using datetime import datetime, the datetime module is loaded at the opening of the code.
2. The string value “2022-01-15” is allocated to the variable date str to symbolize a specific date in the YYYY-MM-DD format.
3. Date str is transformed into a datetime object and assigned to the variable date obj using the datetime module’s strptime method. To describe the anticipated format of the date string, the%Y-%m-%d format string is supplied as the core example to strptime.
4. The data type of the date obj variable is determined to use the type function, and the result is displayed to the console using print(type(date obj)).
5. Publishing the date and time data in an organized form to the console using the print(date obj) function finishes the procedure.

2. Convert string into date using dateutil.parser.parse()

Another approach for converting a string to a date in Python is to use the dateutil.parser.parse() function from the dateutil module. This function attempts to parse a string representing a date and time in a flexible way.

Sample Code:

# Import the parse function

# Initialize a string variable
date_str = '2022-01-15'

# Use the parse function to convert the string
date_obj = parse(date_str)

# Print the data type 
print(type(date_obj))

# Print the datetime object.
print(date_obj)

Output:

<class 'datetime.datetime'>
2022-01-15 00:00:00

Code Explanation:

1. The code begins by installing the dateutil module using throughout dateutil.parser import parse.
2. The string value “2022-01-15” is allocated to the variable date str that symbolize a specific date in the YYYY-MM-DD format.
3. The date str string is converted into a datetime object that use the parsing function of the dateutil module, which is then assigned to the date obj variable.
4. The data type of the date obj variable is evaluated using the type function, and the result is displayed to the console using print(type(date obj)).

3.Using pandas.to_datetime() change string to date

A third approach for converting a string to a date in Python is to use the pandas.to_datetime() function from the pandas library. This function can handle a variety of date formats and returns a pandas Timestamp object.

Sample Code:

# Import the pandas library with the alias pd.
import pandas as pd

# Initialize a string variable
date_str = '2022-01-15'

# Use the to_datetime method
date_obj = pd.to_datetime(date_str)

# Print the data type
print(type(date_obj))

# Print the datetime object.
print(date_obj)

Output:

<class 'pandas._libs.tslibs.timestamps.Timestamp'>
2022-01-15 00:00:00

Code Example:

1. With import pandas as pd, the pandas module is imported at the beginning of the code.
2. The string value “2022-01-15” is assigned to the variable date str that symbolize a specific date in the YYYY-MM-DD format.
3. Date str is changed into a Timestamp object and assigned to the variable date obj to use the to datetime function of the pandas module.
4. The data type of the date obj variable is ascertained using the type function, and the result is published to the console using print(type(date obj)).
5. In order to display the date and time in a formatted string, the date obj variable is eventually transmitted to the console using print(date obj).

Best approach out of three

The optimal method for each of these three depending on the requirements on how to change string to datetime in python can be decided by a few suggestions . These are a few suggestions for thinking regarding:

1. Employ datetime if you need to handle a particular date format.
2. Employing strptime() is a smart decision. To confirm that the output is in the format you required, you can specify the particular format of the input string.
3. Dateutil.parser.parse() is a reasonable option if you need to manage an assortment of date formats. This function can instantly recognize the received string’s format and parse it accordingly.
4. Pandas.to datetime() is a reasonable option if you are working with time series data and need to start managing big amounts of date data. This function can effectively handle enormous amounts of information and is an achievement.

In general, datetime.strptime() is an excellent scenario if you need to handle a certain format although working with a relatively small amount of date data.

Sample Problem

Problem 1: Given the following string representing a date and time: “2023-02-23 15:30:00”, write a Python code snippet using datetime.strptime() to convert it to a datetime object.

Solution:

1. Import the datetime module from the Python standard library.
2. Define a string variable date_string that contains the date and time to be converted to a datetime object.
3. Define a string variable format_string that specifies the format of the date_string. Here, the format string %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S specifies that the date string has the year represented by %Y, the month represented by %m, the day represented by %d, the hour represented by %H, the minute represented by %M, and the second represented by %S.
4. Call the datetime.strptime() method with date_string and format_string as arguments to convert the string to a datetime object. The datetime.strptime() method parses the date_string using the specified format_string to create a datetime object date_time.

Print the resulting datetime object. The print() function is used to output the resulting datetime object to the console.

Code:

# Import the datetime module
from datetime import datetime

# Initialize a string variable containing a date and time
date_string = "2023-02-23 15:30:00"

# Initialize a string variable
format_string = "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"

# Use the strptime method
date_time = datetime.strptime(date_string, format_string)

# Print the datetime
print(date_time)

Output:

2023-02-23 15:30:00

Problem 2: Given the following string representing a date and time: “2023-02-23T15:30:00-05:00”, write a Python code snippet using dateutil.parser.parse() to convert it to a datetime object.

Solution:

1. Import the parse function from the dateutil.parser module.
2. Define a string variable date_string that contains the date and time to be converted to a datetime object. Here, the string includes the time zone offset -05:00.
3. Call the parse() function with date_string as an argument to convert the string to a datetime object. The parse() function parses the date_string to create a datetime object date_time.
4. Print the resulting datetime object. The print() function is used to output the resulting datetime object to the console.

Code:

# Import the parse function 
from dateutil.parser import parse

# Initialize a string variable 
date_string = "2023-02-23T15:30:00-05:00"

# Use the parse function
date_time = parse(date_string)

# Print the resulting datetime object.
print(date_time)

Output:

2023-02-23 15:30:00-05:00

Problem 3: Given the following string representing a date: “2023-02-23”, write a Python code snippet using pandas.to_datetime() to convert it to a datetime object.

Solution:

1. Import the pandas library and alias it as pd.

• Define a string variable date_string that contains the date to be converted to a datetime object.

• Call the pd.to_datetime() function with date_string as an argument to convert the string to a datetime object. The pd.to_datetime() function parses the date_string to create a datetime object date_time.

• Print the resulting datetime object. The print() function is used to output the resulting datetime object to the console.

Code:

# Import the pandas library
import pandas as pd

# Initialize a string variable
date_string = "2023-02-23"

# Use the to_datetime method
date_time = pd.to_datetime(date_string)

# Print the resulting datetime object.
print(date_time)

Output:

2023-02-23 00:00:00

Conclusion

Finally, when working with data that contains dates or timestamps, it is sometimes required to convert strings to dates in Python. Many utilities are accessible for handling dates and times in Python’s built-in datetime module.

There are various processes involved when converting a string to a date, such as selecting the date format and processing the string using the datetime.strptime() method.

Generally, the process of converting strings to dates in Python can be clear and easy, but it’s crucial to be familiar with the datetime module and its features.