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Python Dates and Times in Python (2014) Dates and Times strftime & strptime

Michael Steinman
Michael Steinman
11,012 Points
Posted by Michael Steinman
Michael Steinman
11,012 Points

Convert two strings to a datetime

Here's the task:

Create a new function named from_string that takes two arguments: a date as a string and an strftime-compatible format string, and returns a datetime created from them.

My problem is that I don't think I understand what the question is asking. If I'm supposed to take two strings as inputs and then convert them to a datetime, wouldn't I need to know the format of the strings to use strptime? How can I write this function without knowing the format?

1 Answer

Andreas cormack
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Andreas cormack
Python Web Development Techdegree Graduate 33,011 Points

Hi Michael

The task asks you to create a function that takes two arguments, one a datetime string and one a strftime pattern string. The idea being you use the passed in arguments to return a datetime object. You can use the strptime method of the datetime class takes two arguments a string reprezentation of a datime and a format.

see below

import datetime

def from_string(datestring,dateformat):
  return datetime.datetime.strptime(datestring, dateformat)