View Category
Dates
Parsing

Parse a date and time from a string

Given the string "2008-05-06 13:29", parse it as a date representing 6th March, 2008 1:29:00pm in the local time zone.
python
import time
time.strptime("2008-05-06 13:29", "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")
csharp
DateTime parsedDate = DateTime.Parse("2008-05-06 13:29");
// Ideally, you would catch the potential FormatException or use DateTime.TryParse in production code.
erlang
% AFAIK, no datetime-parsing library exists; 'parse_to_datetime' is a simplistic, problem-specific hack
LocalDateTime = erlang:universaltime_to_localtime(parse_to_datetime("2008-05-06 13:29:34")),
cpp
DateTimeOffset^ dateTime = DateTimeOffset::Parse("2008-05-06 13:29");

// Use format specifiers to appropriately format string
// 1. Default culture
Console::WriteLine("{0}", dateTime->ToString("d MMMM, yyyy h:mm:sstt"));

// 2. Nominated culture
Console::WriteLine("{0}", dateTime->ToString("d MMMM, yyyy h:mm:sstt"), Globalization::CultureInfo::CreateSpecificCulture("en-us"));
DateTimeOffset^ dateTime = DateTimeOffset::Parse("2008-05-06 13:29");

// Customize date/time string
Text::StringBuilder^ dsb = gcnew Text::StringBuilder(40);
dsb->Append(dateTime->ToString("%d"))->Append("th ")->Append(dateTime->ToString("MMMM, yyyy h:mm:ss"))->Append(dateTime->ToString("tt")->ToLower());

Console::WriteLine("{0}", dsb);
groovy
def date = new SimpleDateFormat("yyy-MM-dd HH:mm").parse("2008-05-06 13:29")
def date = Date.parse("yyy-MM-dd HH:mm", "2008-05-06 13:29")
Printing

Display information about a date

Display the day of month, day of year, month name and day name of the day 8 days from now.
python
from datetime import datetime, timedelta

eightDaysFromNow = datetime.now() + timedelta(days=8)

print eightDaysFromNow.strftime('%d') # day of month
print eightDaysFromNow.strftime('%j') # day of year
print eightDaysFromNow.strftime('%B') # month name FULL
print eightDaysFromNow.strftime('%A') # day of week name FULL
csharp
DateTime date = DateTime.Today.AddDays(8);

Console.WriteLine("Day of month: " + date.Day);
Console.WriteLine("Day of year: " + date.DayOfYear);
Console.WriteLine("Month name: " + date.ToString("MMMM"));
Console.WriteLine("Day name: " + date.ToString("dddd"));

// The two ToString calls will use the current locale.
// To get localised month and day names, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8tfzyc64.aspx
cpp
QDate dateEightDaysFromNow = QDate::currentDate().addDays(8);
groovy
use (TimeCategory) {
eight_days_time = 1.week.from.now + 1.day
}
println eight_days_time[DAY_OF_MONTH]
println eight_days_time.format('d') // alternative to above
println eight_days_time[DAY_OF_YEAR]
println eight_days_time.format('MMMM')
println eight_days_time.format('EEEE')

Display a date in different locales

Display a language/locale friendly version of New Year's Day for 2009 for several languages/locales. E.g. for languages English, French, German, Italian, Dutch the output might be something like:

Thursday, January 1, 2009
jeudi 1 janvier 2009
giovedì 1 gennaio 2009
Donnerstag, 1. Januar 2009
donderdag 1 januari 2009

(Indicate in comments where possible if any language specific or operating system configuration needs to be in place.)
python
from datetime import datetime
from locale import setlocale, LC_TIME

now = datetime(2009, 1, 1)

locales = ('en_us', 'fr_fr', 'it_it', 'de_de', 'nl_nl')
for locale in locales:
setlocale(LC_TIME, locale)
print now.strftime('%A, %B %d %Y')

csharp
using System.Globalization;

DateTime newYearsDay = new DateTime(2009, 1, 1);
CultureInfo[] locales = {
CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US"),
CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR"),
CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("de-DE"),
CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("it-IT"),
CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("nl-NL")
};

foreach (CultureInfo locale in locales)
{
Console.WriteLine(newYearsDay.ToString("D", locale));
}
cpp
QList<QLocale::Language> locales;
locales << QLocale::English
<< QLocale::French
<< QLocale::German
<< QLocale::Italian
<< QLocale::Dutch;

QDate date(2009, 1, 1);
foreach (QLocale::Language ll, locales)
{
QLocale::setDefault(ll);
qDebug() << date.toString(Qt::DefaultLocaleLongDate);
}
groovy
cal = Calendar.instance
cal.set(2009, JANUARY, 1)
[ENGLISH, FRENCH, ITALIAN, GERMAN, new Locale('nl')].each { lang ->
println getDateInstance(FULL, lang).format(cal.time)
}

// relies on Java I18N capabilities which supports many locales, see:
// http://java.sun.com/javase/technologies/core/basic/intl/
// available Locales may depend on your version of Java and/or
// operating system and/or installed fonts
Creation

Display the current date and time

Create a Date object representing the current date and time. Print it out.
If you can also do this without creating a Date object you can show that too.
python
from datetime import datetime
print datetime.utcnow()
csharp
// Creating a variable first:
DateTime now = DateTime.Now;
Console.WriteLine(now);

// Without creating a variable:
Console.WriteLine(DateTime.Now);
erlang
io:format("~p~n", [calendar:local_time()])
cpp
QDate now = QDate::currentData();
qDebug() << now.toString();
time_t date = time(0);
cout << ctime(&date);
groovy
println new Date()