Time

Time in Python is recorded in seconds. Any given time is recorded as the number of seconds since 1st January 1970 (referred at as the epoch).

We will use two different libraries to deal with time:

• time

• datetime

Both are part of the standard library that comes packaged with Python.

Pausing

The sleep method pauses the program calculation and waits. The argument passes the wait time in seconds.

from time import sleep

print("Started")

sleep(2)

print("Two seconds later")

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Current time

The now method returns the current local date and time. We also use the strftime method to format the date. There are many formatting codes.

from datetime import datetime

now = datetime.now()

# display time 24 hour
print(now.strftime("%H:%M:%S"))

# display tme 12 hour
print(now.strftime("%I:%M:%S %p"))

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Current date

Both today will return today’s date, while now will return today’s date and time.

The return objects can be refined by using the dot notation asking for the:

• year

• month

• day

• hour

• minute

• second

• microsecond

from datetime import date
from datetime import datetime

# display today's date
print(date.today())

# display custom date
now = datetime.now()
print(f"{now.day}/{now.month}/{now.year}")

Calculate elapsed time

Since time is recorded in seconds, can perform calculations between two times.

import time

start = time.perf_counter()
time.sleep(2)
end = time.perf_counter()

print(f"Elapsed time: {end - start} sec")