Date and Time

Date and Time objects in computer programming provide a standardized and efficient way to work with temporal data, enabling programmers to represent, manipulate, and calculate dates, times, and durations within their programs. These objects offer a range of functionalities such as parsing and formatting dates and times, performing arithmetic operations on dates, and handling time zone conversions. They are invaluable in various applications, including scheduling, logging, event handling, and data analysis, where accurate timekeeping and temporal calculations are essential. Date and Time objects promote code readability and maintainability by abstracting away the complexities of date and time calculations, thus reducing the risk of errors and inconsistencies in date-related logic. Additionally, they facilitate interoperability with external systems and libraries, ensuring seamless integration of temporal data across different platforms and environments. Overall, Date and Time objects play a crucial role in enabling programmers to effectively manage temporal data, ensuring the reliability and functionality of software applications across diverse domains.

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Examples

C

#include <stdio.h>
#include <time.h>

// seconds since epoch
time_t seconds = time(NULL);
printf("%ld \n", seconds);
  
struct tm tm = *localtime(&seconds);
  
// current year
int year = tm.tm_year + 1900;
printf("%d \n", year);
  
// current month
int month = tm.tm_mon + 1;
printf("%d \n", month);
  
// formated date
char formatted[50];
sprintf(formatted, "%d/%d/%d", month, tm.tm_mday, year);
printf("%s", formatted);

C#

// get current date
DateTime now = DateTime.Now;
Console.WriteLine(now);

// find tim in milliseconds
long millitime = (long)(
  now - new DateTime(1970, 1, 1)
).TotalMilliseconds;

Console.WriteLine(millitime);

// create date time obj
DateTime date = new DateTime(2023, 11, 20);
Console.WriteLine(date.ToString());

// finds the current year
String currentYear = 
  DateTime.Now.Year.ToString();
Console.WriteLine(currentYear);

// finds current date and formats it
String currentDate = 
  DateTime.Now.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy");
Console.WriteLine(currentDate);

C++

#include <iostream>
#include <ctime>
using namespace std;

// set tieme in seconds since 1970
time_t secondsTime = time(nullptr);
tm *localTime = localtime(&secondsTime);

// current numeric year
int year = 1900 + localTime->tm_year;

// current numeric month
int month = 1 + localTime->tm_mon;

// current numeric day
int day = localTime->tm_mday;

// formatted date
string fullDate = to_string(month) + 
                  "/" +
                  to_string(day)+
                  "/" +
                  to_string(year);

cout << secondsTime << endl;
cout << year << endl;
cout << fullDate << endl;

Go

import (
  "time"
  "fmt"
)

// current time in milliseconds since 1970
milliTime := time.Now().UnixNano()
fmt.Println(milliTime)

// current year
year := time.Now().Year()
fmt.Println(year)

// current month
month := time.Now().Month()
fmt.Println(month)

// current day
day := time.Now().Day()
fmt.Println(day)

// current formatted date
fullDate := time.Now().Format("01/02/2006")
fmt.Println(fullDate)

Java

import java.util.Date;
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;

// epoch time
long milliTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
System.out.println(milliTime );

Calendar cal=Calendar.getInstance();

// current year
int year = cal.get(Calendar.YEAR);
System.out.println(year );

// current month
int month = cal.get(Calendar.MONTH) + 1;
System.out.println(month );

// formatted date
String pattern = "MM/dd/yyyy";
SimpleDateFormat fullDate = 
  new SimpleDateFormat(pattern);

String formattedDate = 
  fullDate.format(new Date());

System.out.println(formattedDate );

JavaScript

// get time in milliseconds
const milliTime = Date.now();
console.log(milliTime);

// current year
const currentYear = new Date().getFullYear();
console.log(currentYear);

// create new Date obj
const utcDate = Date.UTC(2023, 11, 20, 3, 0, 0);
const fullDate = new Date();
const date = new Intl.DateTimeFormat();

// formats date in a more traditional format
const formatedDate = date.format(fullDate);
console.log(formatedDate);

Kotlin

// kotlin can use java packages
import java.time.Year;
import java.time.LocalDate;
import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter
import java.util.Date;

// global UTC date
val date = Date()
println("${date}\n");

// time in milliiseconds
val millitime = System.currentTimeMillis();
println("${millitime} \n")

// current year
val currentYear = Year.now().getValue();
println("${currentYear}\n");

// local date 
val localDate = LocalDate.now();
println(localDate);

val formatted =
  DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("MM-dd-yyyy");

// reformatted date with month first
val formattedDate =
  localDate.format(formatted);

println(formattedDate);

MatLab

% milliseconds since 1970
milliseconds = posixtime(datetime('now'));
disp(milliseconds);

% format current time
now = datetime;
disp(now);

% current year
now.Format = 'yyyy';
disp(now);

% current month
now.Format = 'MM';
disp(now);

% formatted date
now.Format = "MM/dd/yyyy";
disp(now);

PHP

// get current time in seoconds since Jan 1 1970
$secondTime = floor(microtime(true));
echo $secondTime . "\n";

// get current year
$year = date("Y");
echo $year . "\n";

// full date in month day year format
$fullDate = date("m/d/Y");
echo $fullDate . "\n";

// get current time in EST
date_default_timezone_set("America/New_York");
$time = date("h:i:sa");
echo $time . "\n";

Python

import datetime

# current date and time
today = datetime.datetime.now()
print(today)

#setup date time instance
strDate = datetime.datetime(2023, 11, 20)

# Full numeric month 
month = strDate.strftime("%m")

# get word version of month
strMonth = strDate.strftime("%B")

# grabs day from date obj
day = strDate.strftime("%d")

# grabs year form date obj
year = strDate.strftime("%Y")

# concatenate to produce a full date 
fullDate = f"{month}/{day}/{year}" 
strFull = f"{strMonth} {day}, {year}"

print(year)
print(fullDate)
print(strFull)

R

# date and time 
date = Sys.time()
print(date)

# epoch time
milliseconds = as.numeric(as.POSIXct(date))
print(milliseconds)

# current year
year = format(date, "%Y")
print(year)

# current month
month = format(date, "%m")
print(month)

# formatted date
formatted = format(date, "%m/%d/%Y")
print(formatted)

Ruby

# current date
date = Time.now
puts date

# epoch time
milliseconds = Time.now.to_f
puts milliseconds

# current year
year = Time.now.year
puts year

# current month
month = Time.now.month
puts month

# formatted date
day = Time.now.day
formatted = "#{month}/#{day}/#{year}"
puts formatted

Rust

use std::time::{SystemTime, UNIX_EPOCH};

// requires chrono crates
use chrono::Datelike;

fn main() {

// epoch time
let start = SystemTime::now();
let milliseconds =
  start.duration_since(UNIX_EPOCH);
println!("{:?}", milliseconds);

let currentDate = chrono::Utc::now();

// current year
let year = currentDate.year();
println!("{}", year);

// current month
let month = current_date.month();
println!("{}", month);
    
// formatted date
let day = current_date.day();
println!("{}/{}/{}", month, day, year);

Scala

import java.util.Calendar
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat
import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter
import java.util.Date;

// epoch time
val milliseconds: Long =
  System.currentTimeMillis
println(milliseconds);

// current year
val year =
  Calendar.getInstance.get(Calendar.YEAR)
println(year);

// current month
val month =
  Calendar.getInstance.get(Calendar.MONTH) + 1
println(month)


// formatted date
val pattern = "MM/dd/yyyy";
val fullDate = 
  new SimpleDateFormat(pattern);

val formattedDate = 
  fullDate.format(new Date());
  
println(formattedDate);

Swift

// epoch time
let milliseconds =
  Date().timeIntervalSince1970 * 1000;
print(milliseconds);

let currentDate = Date();
let calendar = Calendar.current;

// current year
let year = calendar.component(.year, from: currentDate);
print(year);

// current month
let month = calendar.component(.month, from: currentDate);
print(month);

let day = calendar.component(.day, from: currentDate);

// formatted date
let formatted = "\(month)/\(day)/\(year)";
print(formatted);

TypeScript

// get time in milliseconds
const milliTime:number =
  Date.now();
console.log(milliTime);

// current year
const currentYear:number =
  new Date().getFullYear();
console.log(currentYear);

// create new Date obj
const utcDate:number =
  Date.UTC(2023, 11, 20, 3, 0, 0);

const fullDate:Date = new Date();
const date:Intl.DateTimeFormat =
  new Intl.DateTimeFormat();

// formats date in a more traditional format
const formatedDate:string =
  date.format(fullDate);
console.log(formatedDate);

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