Python time
last modified January 29, 2024
Python time tutorial shows how to work with time in Python using the standard time module.
Python time module
The time module is a standard Python module that contains time
access and conversion functions. Note that this module has limitations; for
instance, the functions may not handle dates and times before the epoch or far
in the future.
Additional time-related functionality can be found in standard
datetime and calendar modules, or in third-party
arrow module.
Python time structure
Several functions including time.gmtime,
time.localtime time.asctime work with the
time.struct_time object.
time.struct_time(tm_year=2021, tm_mon=6, tm_mday=27, tm_hour=14, tm_min=12,
tm_sec=20, tm_wday=6, tm_yday=178, tm_isdst=1)
This is an example of a time structure.
| Index | Attribute | Values |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | tm_year |
0000, ...., 2021, ..., 9999 |
| 1 | tm_mon |
1, 2, ..., 12 |
| 2 | tm_mday |
1, 2, ..., 31 |
| 3 | tm_hour |
0, 1, ..., 23 |
| 4 | tm_min |
0, 1, ..., 59 |
| 5 | tm_sec |
0, 1, ..., 61 |
| 6 | tm_wday |
0, 1, ..., 6; Monday is 0 |
| 7 | tm_yday |
1, 2, ..., 366 |
| 8 | tm_isdst |
0, 1 or -1 |
The values of the time.struct_time object are accessible using both
indices and attributes. We can use the time.asctime function
converts the time.struct_time into a standard human readable string
form.
Python time epoch
An epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular era. The Unix epoch is the time 00:00:00 UTC on 1 January 1970 (or 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z ISO 8601).
#!/usr/bin/python import time e = time.gmtime(0) print(e) print(e.tm_year, e.tm_mon, e.tm_mday)
The example prints the platform's epoch
e = time.gmtime(0)
To get the epoch, we pass 0 to the time.gmtime function.
$ ./epoch.py
time.struct_time(tm_year=1970, tm_mon=1, tm_mday=1, tm_hour=0, tm_min=0,
tm_sec=0, tm_wday=3, tm_yday=1, tm_isdst=0)
1970 1 1
Python time.time
The time.time function returns the time in seconds since the epoch
as a floating point number.
#!/usr/bin/python import time t = time.time() print(t)
The example returns the time in seconds since epoch.
$ date +%s 1624795343 $ ./time_fun.py 1624795347.1246026
Python time.localtime
The time.localtime function converts a time expressed in seconds
since the epoch to a time structure in local time.
#!/usr/bin/python
import time
secs = time.time()
loc_time = time.localtime(secs)
print(f'local time: {loc_time}')
print(loc_time.tm_year)
print(loc_time.tm_mon)
print(loc_time.tm_mday)
print('-------------------------')
print(loc_time[0])
print(loc_time[1])
print(loc_time[2])
We get the elapsed seconds with the time.time function and pass
it to the time.localtime function. We get the
$ ./loc_time.py
local time: time.struct_time(tm_year=2021, tm_mon=6, tm_mday=27, tm_hour=14,
tm_min=20, tm_sec=15, tm_wday=6, tm_yday=178, tm_isdst=1)
2021
6
27
-------------------------
2021
6
27
Python time.ctime
The time.ctime function converts a time expressed in seconds since
the epoch to a specific string format, representing local time.
#!/usr/bin/python
import time
secs = time.time()
loc_time = time.ctime(secs)
print(f'local time: {loc_time}')
The example uses the time.ctime function to express the time
expressed in seconds since epoch into a human readable time format.
$ ./loc_time2.py local time: Sun Jun 27 14:46:18 2021
Python time.gmtime
The time.gmtime converts a time expressed in seconds since the
epoch to a time structure in UTC.
There is a pragmatic need for one global time. One global time helps to avoid confusion about time zones and daylight saving time. The UTC (Universal Coordinated time) was chosen to be the primary time standard. UTC is used in aviation, weather forecasts, flight plans, air traffic control clearances, and maps. Unlike local time, UTC does not change with a change of seasons.
#!/usr/bin/python
import time
utc = time.gmtime()
print(utc)
print('--------------------')
print(utc.tm_year)
print(utc.tm_mon)
print(utc.tm_mday)
print(utc.tm_hour)
The example prints the Universal time.
$ ./utc_time.py
time.struct_time(tm_year=2021, tm_mon=6, tm_mday=27, tm_hour=12, tm_min=55,
tm_sec=31, tm_wday=6, tm_yday=178, tm_isdst=0)
--------------------
2021
6
27
12
Python time.asctime
The time.asctime function converts the
time.struct_time into a standard human readable string form.
#!/usr/bin/python import time loc = time.localtime() utc = time.gmtime() print(time.asctime(loc)) print(time.asctime(utc))
With the help of the time.asctime, we print the local time and the
UTC time.
$ ./asc_time.py Sun Jun 27 15:06:15 2021 Sun Jun 27 13:06:15 2021
Python time.strptime
The time.strptime function parses a string representing a time
according to the specified format. The returned value is a time structure.
#!/usr/bin/python import time v1 = '2021-06-25' v2 = '25/11/2020' d1 = time.strptime(v1, '%Y-%m-%d') print(time.asctime(d1)) d2 = time.strptime(v2, '%d/%m/%Y') print(time.asctime(d2))
The example dates expressed in two different formats.
$ ./parse_time.py Fri Jun 25 00:00:00 2021 Wed Nov 25 00:00:00 2020
Python time.strftime
The time.strftime function converts a time structure representing a
time to a string as specified by the format argument.
#!/usr/bin/python
import time
loc = time.localtime()
print(time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d', loc))
print(time.strftime('%c', loc))
print(time.strftime('%A', loc))
print(time.strftime('%B', loc))
print(time.strftime("%H:%M:%S", loc))
The example uses the time.localtime to get a local time expressed
in a time structure. Then it formats the returned value into different time
formats.
$ ./format_time.py 2021-06-27 Sun Jun 27 15:17:37 2021 Sunday June 15:17:37
Source
Python time — Time access and conversions
In this article we have worked with the time module in Python.
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