Python · Syntax · Intermediate

datetime and json modules

10 tasks

Working with dates and times using the datetime module, and serializing data with the json module.

Quick topic start and explanations before exercises (exercises below):

datetime basics: naive vs aware, zoneinfo, strptime/strftime

#
**datetime basics** ```python from datetime import datetime, date, time, timezone # Current UTC time (naive vs aware) datetime.now() # naive — no timezone, uses local clock datetime.utcnow() # naive UTC — deprecated in Python 3.12 datetime.now(timezone.utc) # aware UTC — preferred # Creating specific dates d = date(2024, 3, 15) # year, month, day dt = datetime(2024, 3, 15, 10, 30) # year, month, day, hour, minute ``` **Naive vs aware datetimes** A *naive* datetime has no timezone info — Python doesn't know if it's UTC, New York, or Tokyo. An *aware* datetime carries a `tzinfo` and can be compared across time zones: ```python from datetime import datetime, timezone, timedelta naive = datetime(2024, 3, 15, 10, 0) # no tzinfo aware = datetime(2024, 3, 15, 10, 0, tzinfo=timezone.utc) # UTC # You cannot compare naive and aware: naive < aware # TypeError: can't compare offset-naive and offset-aware # Custom offset timezone: tz_kyiv = timezone(timedelta(hours=3)) # UTC+3 dt_kyiv = datetime(2024, 3, 15, 13, 0, tzinfo=tz_kyiv) ``` **zoneinfo — named timezones (Python 3.9+)** ```python from zoneinfo import ZoneInfo tz = ZoneInfo('Europe/Kyiv') dt = datetime(2024, 3, 15, 10, 0, tzinfo=tz) dt.isoformat() # '2024-03-15T10:00:00+02:00' # Convert between zones: dt_ny = dt.astimezone(ZoneInfo('America/New_York')) # Same moment, different local time ``` **Parsing and formatting** ```python # Parse from string dt = datetime.strptime('2024-03-15 10:30', '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M') # Format to string dt.strftime('%d %B %Y') # '15 March 2024' dt.isoformat() # '2024-03-15T10:30:00' # Parse ISO format directly (Python 3.7+): datetime.fromisoformat('2024-03-15T10:30:00') # no Z support until 3.11 ``` Common `strftime` / `strptime` codes: ``` %Y 4-digit year %m month (01-12) %d day (01-31) %H hour (00-23) %M minute (00-59) %S second (00-59) %A weekday name %B month name %f microseconds ```

timedelta arithmetic, calendar module, and isoweekday

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**timedelta — date arithmetic** ```python from datetime import datetime, timedelta now = datetime(2024, 3, 15, 10, 0) # Add / subtract time tomorrow = now + timedelta(days=1) next_week = now + timedelta(weeks=1) two_hours = now + timedelta(hours=2) yesterday = now - timedelta(days=1) # Difference between two datetimes gives a timedelta start = datetime(2024, 1, 1) end = datetime(2024, 3, 15) diff = end - start # timedelta(days=74) diff.days # 74 diff.total_seconds() # 6393600.0 ``` **timedelta components** ```python td = timedelta(days=2, hours=3, minutes=30) td.days # 2 td.seconds # 12600 (only the sub-day seconds!) td.total_seconds() # 185400.0 (always use this for comparisons) # Decompose total_seconds into hours and minutes: total = int(td.total_seconds()) hours, rem = divmod(total, 3600) minutes, _ = divmod(rem, 60) print(f'{hours}h {minutes}m') # '51h 30m' ``` **calendar module** ```python import calendar # Days in a month (handles leap years): calendar.monthrange(2024, 2) # (3, 29) — starts Thursday, 29 days calendar.monthrange(2024, 2)[1] # 29 # Day of week (0=Monday, 6=Sunday): calendar.weekday(2024, 3, 15) # 4 — Friday # Check for leap year: calendar.isleap(2024) # True # .isoweekday() on datetime: 1=Monday, 7=Sunday (ISO standard) from datetime import date date(2024, 3, 15).isoweekday() # 5 — Friday date(2024, 3, 15).weekday() # 4 — Friday (0-indexed) ``` **date.today() vs datetime.now()** ```python from datetime import date, datetime date.today() # date(2024, 3, 15) — date only, no time datetime.today() # naive datetime with local time datetime.now(timezone.utc) # aware UTC datetime — use for logging/APIs ```

json.dumps/loads vs dump/load (files), serializing datetimes, object_hook

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**json.dumps / json.loads — strings** ```python import json data = {'name': 'Alice', 'age': 30, 'active': True} # Serialize to a JSON string text = json.dumps(data) # '{"name": "Alice", "age": 30, "active": true}' text = json.dumps(data, indent=2) # pretty-printed text = json.dumps(data, ensure_ascii=False) # preserve unicode chars # Deserialize from a JSON string obj = json.loads(text) # {'name': 'Alice', 'age': 30, 'active': True} ``` **json.dump / json.load — files** `json.dump` / `json.load` (no 's') work with **file objects**, not strings: ```python # Write to file with open('data.json', 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f: json.dump(data, f, indent=2, ensure_ascii=False) # Read from file with open('data.json', 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f: obj = json.load(f) ``` Memory aid: `dumps`/`loads` → **s**tring; `dump`/`load` → file. **Serializing datetimes** JSON has no date type. The standard approach is ISO 8601 strings: ```python from datetime import datetime, timezone import json now = datetime.now(timezone.utc) # json.dumps doesn't know how to serialize datetime by default: json.dumps({'created': now}) # TypeError: Object of type datetime is not JSON serializable # Fix 1 — convert manually: json.dumps({'created': now.isoformat()}) # '{"created": "2024-03-15T10:30:00+00:00"}' # Fix 2 — custom default function: def json_default(obj): if isinstance(obj, datetime): return obj.isoformat() raise TypeError(f'Not serializable: {type(obj)}') json.dumps({'created': now}, default=json_default) ``` **Parsing datetimes back** ```python # json.loads gives you strings, not datetimes: obj = json.loads('{"created": "2024-03-15T10:30:00+00:00"}') obj['created'] # '2024-03-15T10:30:00+00:00' — still a string # Convert manually: dt = datetime.fromisoformat(obj['created']) # Python 3.7+ # Or use a hook on json.loads: ISO_KEYS = {'created', 'updated', 'timestamp'} def parse_dates(d): for key in ISO_KEYS & d.keys(): try: d[key] = datetime.fromisoformat(d[key]) except (ValueError, TypeError): pass return d obj = json.loads(text, object_hook=parse_dates) # obj['created'] is now a datetime object ```

Exercises:

01

#

Parse the string '2024-03-15' into a `datetime.date` object and return it.

from datetime import date

def parse_date(s):
    # your code here
    pass

print(parse_date('2024-03-15'))  # 2024-03-15
print(type(parse_date('2024-03-15')))  # <class 'datetime.date'>
Solution 
from datetime import date

def parse_date(s):
    return date.fromisoformat(s)
02

#

Parse the string '15/03/2024 14:30' into a `datetime` object using `strptime`.

from datetime import datetime

def parse_datetime(s):
    # your code here
    pass

dt = parse_datetime('15/03/2024 14:30')
print(dt.year, dt.month, dt.day)   # 2024 3 15
print(dt.hour, dt.minute)           # 14 30
Solution 
from datetime import datetime

def parse_datetime(s):
    return datetime.strptime(s, '%d/%m/%Y %H:%M')
03

#

Given a `datetime` object, format it as 'March 15, 2024' (e.g., full month name, day, year).

from datetime import datetime

def format_date(dt):
    # your code here
    pass

from datetime import datetime
print(format_date(datetime(2024, 3, 15)))   # March 15, 2024
print(format_date(datetime(2024, 11, 7)))   # November 7, 2024
Solution 
from datetime import datetime

def format_date(dt):
    return dt.strftime('%B %-d, %Y')
04

#

Given two `date` objects, return the number of days between them (always positive).

from datetime import date

def days_between(d1, d2):
    # your code here
    pass

from datetime import date
print(days_between(date(2024, 1, 1), date(2024, 3, 15)))  # 74
print(days_between(date(2024, 3, 15), date(2024, 1, 1)))  # 74
Solution 
from datetime import date

def days_between(d1, d2):
    return abs((d2 - d1).days)
05

#

Serialize a dictionary to a JSON string. The dict may contain date objects — convert them to ISO strings (YYYY-MM-DD) before serializing.

import json
from datetime import date

def serialize(data):
    # your code here
    pass

d = {'name': 'Alice', 'birthday': date(1990, 5, 21), 'score': 42}
print(serialize(d))  # '{"name": "Alice", "birthday": "1990-05-21", "score": 42}'
Solution 
import json
from datetime import date

def serialize(data):
    def default(obj):
        if isinstance(obj, date):
            return obj.isoformat()
        raise TypeError(f'Object of type {type(obj)} is not JSON serializable')
    return json.dumps(data, default=default)
06

#

Parse a JSON string into a Python object. If a key ends with '_date', convert its value from a string to a `datetime.date`.

import json
from datetime import date

def deserialize(s):
    # your code here
    pass

s = '{"name": "Alice", "start_date": "2024-01-15", "score": 42}'
result = deserialize(s)
print(result['start_date'])        # 2024-01-15
print(type(result['start_date']))  # <class 'datetime.date'>
print(result['score'])             # 42
Solution 
import json
from datetime import date

def deserialize(s):
    def object_hook(d):
        for k, v in d.items():
            if k.endswith('_date') and isinstance(v, str):
                d[k] = date.fromisoformat(v)
        return d
    return json.loads(s, object_hook=object_hook)
07

#

Given a list of ISO date strings, return them sorted from oldest to newest.

def sort_dates(dates):
    # your code here
    pass

dates = ['2024-11-01', '2023-03-15', '2024-01-20', '2022-12-31']
print(sort_dates(dates))
# ['2022-12-31', '2023-03-15', '2024-01-20', '2024-11-01']
Solution 
def sort_dates(dates):
    return sorted(dates)
08

#

Given a list of event dicts with an 'date' key (ISO string), return the event with the most recent date.

def latest_event(events):
    # your code here
    pass

events = [
    {'name': 'Conference', 'date': '2024-09-12'},
    {'name': 'Workshop',   'date': '2024-11-03'},
    {'name': 'Meetup',     'date': '2024-07-20'},
]
print(latest_event(events)['name'])  # Workshop
Solution 
def latest_event(events):
    return max(events, key=lambda e: e['date'])
09

#

Given a date, return the date of the first day of that month.

from datetime import date

def first_of_month(d):
    # your code here
    pass

from datetime import date
print(first_of_month(date(2024, 3, 15)))  # 2024-03-01
print(first_of_month(date(2024, 12, 31))) # 2024-12-01
Solution 
from datetime import date

def first_of_month(d):
    return d.replace(day=1)
10

#

Given a list of JSON records (each with an 'amount' field), compute the total. Return 0 if the list is empty.

import json

def total_amount(records_json):
    # your code here
    pass

records = '[{"item": "book", "amount": 12.5}, {"item": "pen", "amount": 3.0}, {"item": "bag", "amount": 25.0}]'
print(total_amount(records))    # 40.5
print(total_amount('[]'))       # 0
Solution 
import json

def total_amount(records_json):
    records = json.loads(records_json)
    return sum(r['amount'] for r in records)