Working with Dates and Times in Python

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#1

Screen Link: https://app.dataquest.io/m/353/working-with-dates-and-times-in-python/5/using-strptime-to-parse-strings-as-dates

Your Code:

import datetime as dt
# print(potus[:2])
date_format = "%m/%d/%y %H:%M"

for each_list in potus:
    appt_start_date = each_list[2]
    appt_start_date = dt.datetime.strptime(appt_start_date, date_format)
    # print(appt_start_date)
    each_list[2] = appt_start_date
    
print(potus[:3])

What I expected to happen:
I expected the below output:

[[‘Joshua T. Blanton’, ‘2014-12-18T00:00:00’, 2015-01-06 09:30:00, ‘1/6/15 23:59’, ‘’, ‘potus’, ‘west wing’, ‘JointService Military Honor Guard’], [‘Jack T. Gutting’, ‘2014-12-18T00:00:00’, 2015-01-06 09:30:00, ‘1/6/15 23:59’, ‘’, ‘potus’, ‘west wing’, ‘JointService Military Honor Guard’], [‘Bradley T. Guiles’, ‘2014-12-18T00:00:00’, 2015-01-06 09:30:00 ,‘1/6/15 23:59’, ‘’, ‘potus’, ‘west wing’, ‘JointService Military Honor Guard’]]

What actually happened: I am getting the below result:

[[‘Joshua T. Blanton’, ‘2014-12-18T00:00:00’, datetime.datetime(2015, 1, 6, 9, 30), ‘1/6/15 23:59’, ‘’, ‘potus’, ‘west wing’, ‘JointService Military Honor Guard’], [‘Jack T. Gutting’, ‘2014-12-18T00:00:00’, datetime.datetime(2015, 1, 6, 9, 30), ‘1/6/15 23:59’, ‘’, ‘potus’, ‘west wing’, ‘JointService Military Honor Guard’], [‘Bradley T. Guiles’, ‘2014-12-18T00:00:00’, datetime.datetime(2015, 1, 6, 9, 30), ‘1/6/15 23:59’, ‘’, ‘potus’, ‘west wing’, ‘JointService Military Honor Guard’]]

Other details:
I expected appt_start_date to be formatted. If I print separately, I am able to see the expected result, but not when I am assigning it back to the list.

Thanks,
Venkat

#2

Hey, Venkat.

This question was already asked (and answered) before here.

I hope this helps.

#3

Thanks Bruno. That helps a lot!

Regards,
Venkat