Python Timestamp Conversions

Timestamps are a common way to represent time in computer programming, and Python has built-in functionality for working with them. Timestamps are typically represented as the number of seconds since a specific epoch, which is January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).

In Python, the standard library provides the datetime module, which includes classes for working with dates and times. The datetime module provides several ways to convert timestamps to and from various formats.

Converting Unix Timestamps to Datetime Objects

Unix timestamps are a common format for expressing time as a number of seconds elapsed since January 1, 1970 (also known as the "epoch"). In Python, you can convert a Unix timestamp to a datetime object using the datetime module.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7import datetime unix_timestamp = 1615531000 # March 12, 2021 12:50:00 PM UTC datetime_object = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(unix_timestamp) print(datetime_object) # 2021-03-12 12:50:00
The fromtimestamp() method takes a Unix timestamp as input and returns a datetime object representing the corresponding date and time.

Converting Datetime Objects to Unix Timestamps



Conversely, you can also convert a datetime object to a Unix timestamp using the timestamp() method.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7import datetime datetime_object = datetime.datetime(2021, 3, 12, 12, 50, 0) unix_timestamp = datetime_object.timestamp() print(unix_timestamp) # 1615531000.0
The timestamp() method returns the Unix timestamp corresponding to the datetime object.

Converting ISO-formatted Timestamps to Datetime Objects

ISO-formatted timestamps are a standardized way of representing time in a human-readable format. In Python, you can convert an ISO-formatted timestamp to a datetime object using the datetime module.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7import datetime iso_timestamp = "2021-03-12T12:50:00Z" datetime_object = datetime.datetime.fromisoformat(iso_timestamp) print(datetime_object) # 2021-03-12 12:50:00+00:00
The fromisoformat() method takes an ISO-formatted timestamp as input and returns a datetime object representing the corresponding date and time.

Converting Datetime Objects to ISO-formatted Timestamps

Similarly, you can convert a datetime object to an ISO-formatted timestamp using the isoformat() method.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7import datetime datetime_object = datetime.datetime(2021, 3, 12, 12, 50, 0) iso_timestamp = datetime_object.isoformat() print(iso_timestamp) # 2021-03-12T12:50:00
The isoformat() method returns the ISO-formatted timestamp corresponding to the datetime object.

Understanding Timezones

Before diving into timezone conversions, it's important to understand what a timezone is. A timezone is a region of the world that observes the same standard time. Timezones are generally identified by a unique identifier, such as "UTC" (Coordinated Universal Time), "EST" (Eastern Standard Time), or "CET" (Central European Time).

Each timezone is typically represented as an offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is the standard time used by the international community. For example, Pacific Standard Time (PST) is 8 hours behind UTC, while Central European Time (CET) is 1 hour ahead of UTC.

Using the pytz Library

The pytz library provides a simple way to work with timezones in Python. To use pytz, you must first import the library and create a timezone object:
1 2 3import pytz timezone = pytz.timezone('US/Pacific')
In this example, we create a timezone object representing Pacific Standard Time (PST).

Converting Timezones

Once you have a timezone object, you can use it to convert datetime objects between timezones. The datetimemodule provides several methods for working with timezones, including localize() and astimezone().
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13import datetime import pytz datetime_object = datetime.datetime(2021, 3, 12, 12, 50, 0) utc_timezone = pytz.timezone('UTC') pst_timezone = pytz.timezone('US/Pacific') datetime_object_utc = utc_timezone.localize(datetime_object) datetime_object_pst = datetime_object_utc.astimezone(pst_timezone) print(datetime_object_utc) # 2021-03-12 12:50:00+00:00 print(datetime_object_pst) # 2021-03-12 04:50:00-08:00
In this example, we first create a datetime object representing March 12, 2021. We then create timezone objects for both UTC and Pacific Standard Time. We use the localize() method to set the timezone of the datetime object to UTC, and then use the astimezone() method to convert the datetime object to Pacific Standard Time.

Handling Ambiguous Times

In some cases, a timestamp may correspond to an ambiguous time. For example, when daylight saving time ends and the clock is set back by an hour, there is a period of time where the same local time occurs twice. To handle ambiguous times, the pytz library provides the is_ambiguous() and normalize() methods.

Using is_ambiguous()

The is_ambiguous() method takes a datetime object and returns True if the time is ambiguous in the given timezone. Here's an example:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12import datetime import pytz datetime_object = datetime.datetime(2021, 11, 7, 1, 30, 0) pst_timezone = pytz.timezone('US/Pacific') datetime_object_pst = pst_timezone.localize(datetime_object, is_dst=None) if pst_timezone.is_ambiguous(datetime_object_pst): print("The time is ambiguous.") else: print("The time is not ambiguous.")
In this example, we create a datetime object for November 7, 2021 at 1:30 AM. We then create a timezone object for Pacific Standard Time and use the localize() method to set the timezone of the datetime object to Pacific Standard Time. We pass is_dst=None to indicate that we don't know whether the time is during daylight saving time or not.

We then use the is_ambiguous() method to check whether the time is ambiguous in Pacific Standard Time. Since this time falls during the daylight saving time transition, the method will return True.

Using normalize()

The normalize() method takes a datetime object and returns a normalized datetime object, taking into account the ambiguity of the time in the given timezone. Here's an example:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12import datetime import pytz datetime_object = datetime.datetime(2021, 11, 7, 1, 30, 0) pst_timezone = pytz.timezone('US/Pacific') datetime_object_pst = pst_timezone.localize(datetime_object, is_dst=None) if pst_timezone.is_ambiguous(datetime_object_pst): datetime_object_pst = pst_timezone.normalize(datetime_object_pst) print(datetime_object_pst)
In this example, we create a datetime object and a timezone object for Pacific Standard Time, just as before. We use the localize() method to set the timezone of the datetime object to Pacific Standard Time, but this time we pass is_dst=None to indicate that we don't know whether the time is during daylight saving time or not.

We then check whether the time is ambiguous using the is_ambiguous() method. If it is ambiguous, we use thenormalize() method to get a normalized datetime object. The normalize() method will adjust the datetime object to the first occurrence of the ambiguous time.

In this case, since November 7, 2021 at 1:30 AM is ambiguous in Pacific Standard Time, the normalize() method will adjust the datetime object to the first occurrence of that time, which is November 7, 2021 at 1:30 AM PDT (Pacific Daylight Time). The resulting datetime object will be normalized and unambiguous.
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