getting the current date and time in Python

How to get the current date and time in Python

Here is an example of how to get the current date and time using the datetime module in Python:

import datetime

now = datetime.datetime.now()

print
print "Current date and time using str method of datetime object:"
print str(now)

print
print "Current date and time using instance attributes:"
print "Current year: %d" % now.year
print "Current month: %d" % now.month
print "Current day: %d" % now.day
print "Current hour: %d" % now.hour
print "Current minute: %d" % now.minute
print "Current second: %d" % now.second
print "Current microsecond: %d" % now.microsecond

print
print "Current date and time using strftime:"
print now.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")

print
print "Current date and time using isoformat:"
print now.isoformat()

Results:

Current date and time using str method of datetime object:
2014-09-26 16:34:40.278298

Current date and time using instance attributes:
Current year: 2014
Current month: 9
Current day: 26
Current hour: 16
Current minute: 34
Current second: 40
Current microsecond: 278298

Current date and time using strftime:
2014-09-26 16:34

Current date and time using isoformat:
2014-09-26T16:34:40.278298

Directly from the time module documentation, here are more options to use with strftime:

Directive	Meaning	Notes
%a	Locale's abbreviated weekday name.
%A	Locale's full weekday name.
%b	Locale's abbreviated month name.
%B	Locale's full month name.
%c	Locale's appropriate date and time representation.
%d	Day of the month as a decimal number [01,31].
%H	Hour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number [00,23].
%I	Hour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number [01,12].
%j	Day of the year as a decimal number [001,366].
%m	Month as a decimal number [01,12].
%M	Minute as a decimal number [00,59].
%p	Locale's equivalent of either AM or PM.	(1)
%S	Second as a decimal number [00,61].	(2)
%U	Week number of the year (Sunday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number [00,53]. All days in a new year preceding the first Sunday are considered to be in week 0.	(3)
%w	Weekday as a decimal number [0(Sunday),6].
%W	Week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number [00,53]. All days in a new year preceding the first Monday are considered to be in week 0.	(3)
%x	Locale's appropriate date representation.
%X	Locale's appropriate time representation.
%y	Year without century as a decimal number [00,99].
%Y	Year with century as a decimal number.
%Z	Time zone name (no characters if no time zone exists).
%%	A literal "%" character.

See also:

• datetime Objects in the datetime module of the Python Library Reference.