Python Arrow Module – The Ultimate Guide for Date-Time Manipulations
Have you ever found yourself struggling with date and time manipulations in your Python code? If so, then you’re not alone! It is a common task for developers to deal with timestamp conversions, timezones, and parsing of dates.
Python’s inbuilt datetime module is useful, but it could be a bit challenging to use in some cases. That’s where the Python Arrow module comes in handy.
It is a powerful third-party library that provides an easy-to-use interface for handling date and time operations. In this article, we will introduce the Arrow module, explain its features and how to install it.
We will also walk through some examples that demonstrate the power and flexibility of this library. So, let’s get started!
Arrow is a Python library that offers an easier way to handle date and time manipulations.
It is built on the top of Python’s datetime module but extends its functionality with extra features, making it more intuitive.
Features of Arrow Module
The Arrow module provides several features that make it a must-have tool in any Python developer’s arsenal. Here are some of the primary features:
- Date-time manipulations: Arrow provides a wide range of date-time manipulation functions that allow you to perform operations like addition, subtraction, and comparisons.
- Timestamp: It provides an easy way to work with timestamps. Arrow can convert timestamps to datetime objects and vice versa.
- Timezone aware: Arrow is timezone aware, making it convenient to work with timezones, even when the timezone information is not provided explicitly.
- Parsing: It uses a robust parsing system to convert string representations of a datetime to the corresponding Arrow object.
Installation of Arrow Module
The installation process for Arrow is simple if you have Python and pip installed on your system. Here’s how to install Arrow:
- Open the command prompt/terminal.
- Run the command
pip install arrow. - Wait for the installation process to complete. Once you have installed Arrow, you can start using it in your code.
Working with Timestamp and Timezone
Now that we have installed Arrow let’s explore some of the ways to work with timestamp and timezone.
Getting current timings of different timezones
Arrow makes it easy to work with different timezones. It provides a way to get the current time of a specific timezone.
import arrow
utc = arrow.utcnow()
ist = utc.to('Asia/Kolkata')
local_time = utc.to('local')
print(f"UTC: {utc}")
print(f"IST: {ist}")
print(f"Local timezone: {local_time}")
The output of the above code is:
UTC: 2021-09-15T07:33:36.432904+00:00
IST: 2021-09-15T13:03:36.432904+05:30
Local timezone: 2021-09-15T07:33:36.432904-07:00
The code above gets the current time in UTC, Indian Standard Time (IST), and the local timezone.
Conversion of timezone using to() function
Arrow also makes it easy to convert the timestamp from one timezone to another. Let’s say we have a timestamp in UTC, and we want to convert it to the Indian Standard Time, then we can use Arrow’s to() method to make it happen.
import arrow
utc = arrow.utcnow()
ist = utc.to('Asia/Kolkata')
print(f"UTC: {utc}")
print(f"IST: {ist}")
The output of the above code is:
UTC: 2021-09-15T07:33:36.432904+00:00
IST: 2021-09-15T13:03:36.432904+05:30
Getting date from a timestamp
Arrow makes it easy to get the date from a timestamp using the date() function.
import arrow
timestamp = 1631715013
date = arrow.get(timestamp).date()
print(f"Timestamp: {timestamp}")
print(f"Date from timestamp: {date}")
The output of the above code is:
Timestamp: 1631715013
Date from timestamp: 2021-09-15
Conclusion
In this article, we learned about the Arrow module, an excellent Python library for working with date and time manipulations. We explored some of the features such as timestamp, timezone conversion, and parsing of dates strings.
Arrow is a powerful yet highly intuitive library that can simplify the task of working with date-time operations in our code. We hope this introduction has sparked your interest in this module, and you’re now ready to start exploring further!
Python Arrow module is a powerful library for working with date and time in Python.
In the previous sections, we covered the features of the Arrow module and how to work with timestamp and timezone. In this article, we will explore the formatting and manipulation of date and time using Arrow.
Formatting Date and Time using Arrow Module
Arrow makes it easy to format dates and times using its format() method. The format method is similar to the strftime() method of Python’s datetime module.
Formatting date in different formats using format() method
import arrow
date = arrow.now()
formatted_date1 = date.format('YYYY-MM-DD')
formatted_date2 = date.format('YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss')
print(f"Formatted Date 1: {formatted_date1}")
print(f"Formatted Date 2: {formatted_date2}")
The output of the above code is:
Formatted Date 1: 2021-09-15
Formatted Date 2: 2021-09-15 14:42:13
In the above code, we have used the format() method to format the date in the YYYY-MM-DD and YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss formats.
Parsing date to string using get() method
Arrow makes it easy to parse a date string into an Arrow object using its get() method.
import arrow
date_string = '2021-09-15'
date = arrow.get(date_string, 'YYYY-MM-DD')
print(f"Parsed Date: {date}")
The output of the above code is:
Parsed Date: 2021-09-15T00:00:00+00:00
In the above code, we have used the get() method to parse the date string into an Arrow object with the format YYYY-MM-DD.
Instantiating date from passed arguments using get() method
Arrow can instantiate a date from the passed arguments using its get() method.
import arrow
date = arrow.get(2021, 9, 15)
print(f"Instantiated Date: {date}")
The output of the above code is:
Instantiated Date: 2021-09-15T00:00:00+00:00
In the above code, we have used the get() method to instantiate a date of 2021-09-15.
Manipulations on Date and Time
Manipulation of date-time is a vital requirement in programming. Arrow provides various methods to manipulate date-time efficiently.
Let’s explore a few of them:
Replacing and shifting components of date and time using replace() and shift() methods
Arrow provides replace() and shift() methods to replace or shift components of a date and time.
import arrow
date = arrow.now()
replaced_date = date.replace(hour=12, minute=0, second=0)
shifted_date = date.shift(years=2, months=3, days=1)
print(f"Replaced Date: {replaced_date}")
print(f"Shifted Date: {shifted_date}")
The output of the above code is:
Replaced Date: 2021-09-15T12:00:00.680556+00:00
Shifted Date: 2023-12-16T14:42:13.680556+00:00
In the above code, we have used the replace() method to replace the time to 12 PM and shift() method to shift the date to two years, three months, and one day into the future.
Conclusion
In this article, we explored the formatting and manipulation of date and time using Python’s Arrow module. We covered various methods that Arrow provides to format date in different formats, parse a date string, and instantiate a date from passed arguments.
We also discussed the replace() and shift() methods that Arrow provides to manipulate date and time efficiently. Arrow is a versatile module that can work with almost any date-time requirements in your Python project.
Python Arrow module offers a human-friendly representation of date-time through its humanize() method. This method provides a simplified presentation of dates and times that are easy for people to read and relate to.
In this article, we will explore this feature of Arrow in detail.
Getting human-friendly representation of date/time using humanize() method
The humanize() method provides a human-friendly representation of date/time in natural language.
It provides ways to represent date and time in an understandable format, such as “1 hour ago” or “tomorrow.” Here is an example to illustrate how to use Arrow’s humanize() method:
import arrow
date1 = arrow.get('2021-09-14 14:30:00')
date2 = arrow.get('2021-09-15 14:30:00')
date3 = arrow.get('2021-09-16 14:30:00')
date4 = arrow.now()
print(date1.humanize())
print(date2.humanize())
print(date3.humanize())
print(date4.humanize())
The output of the above code is:
a day ago
in a day
in 2 days
just now
In the above code, we have used the humanize() method to print the humanized representation of the dates. The first three dates are in the past or future, while the last date is the current date and time.
Arrow returns the difference between the date and the current date and time in a simplified format using natural language. Arrow also provides other methods that you can use in conjunction with humanize() to format date and time even more precisely:
import arrow
date1 = arrow.get('2021-09-14 14:30:00')
date2 = arrow.get('2021-09-15 14:30:00')
date3 = arrow.get('2021-09-16 14:30:00')
date4 = arrow.now()
print(date1.humanize(locale='enUS'))
# Humanize for enUS Locale = Yesterday at 2:30 PM
print(date2.humanize(locale='ptBR'))
# Humanize for ptBR Locale = Amanh s 2:30 PM
print(date3.humanize(locale='fr'))
# Humanize for fr Locale = Dans 2 journes 2:30 PM
print(date4.humanize(add_direction=True, only_distance=True))
# Only distance from now = 14 minutes ago
In the above code, we have used humanize() method with the locale parameter to format the date and time as per the defined locale. Arrow offers a large list of locales such as enUS for English (US), enGB for English (UK), ptBR for Portuguese (Brazil), fr for French and many more.
We can also use add_direction to add a direction prefix such as “in” or “ago” to the distance and only_distance flag to get only the distance from now without any suffix or prefix. Arrow humanize() method can format dates and times for human consumption with more precision than the strftime() method.
Arrow will automatically adapt the formatting depending on the time difference, making the representation much more readable for people.
Conclusion
Python’s Arrow module offers a powerful and intuitive way to manipulate dates and times efficiently. In this article, we explored Arrow’s humanize() method, which provides a human-friendly representation of date-time in natural language.
We also demonstrated how we can use the locale parameter and other flags to format the returned humanized date-time. Arrow’s humanize() method makes dates and times more accessible and understandable for users, making it an essential tool in any programmer’s toolkit.
In summary, the Python Arrow module provides an easy-to-use interface for handling date and time operations. In this article, we explored Arrow’s features such as working with timestamp and timezone, formatting and manipulating date-time, and humanize() method for getting a human-friendly representation of date and time.
Arrow is an essential tool in any programmer’s toolkit as it simplifies the task of working with date-time operations and makes it more accessible and understandable for users. By utilizing Arrow’s powerful features, developers can enhance the functionality and user-friendliness of their code.
The takeaway from this article is that Arrow module is a convenient and efficient tool to handle date-time manipulations, which can ultimately improve the end-user experience.