A datetime object in Python is a data structure used to represent dates and times. With datetime, developers can perform various operations on dates and times, making it a fundamental module for handling temporal data in Python programs.

Methods to Convert Datetime Object to Seconds

We can convert Datetime Object To Seconds using different methods:

1. Using total_seconds() Method

We can use total_seconds() method to convert a datetime object to seconds. To use total_seconds() method we must convert our datetime object into a timedelta object. Timedelta is an object that represent the difference between two dates or times.

Here, we are creating a datetime object using strptime() method available in datetime module, we calculated the timedelta between our datetime and reference datetime objects, and then we converted this timedelta into seconds.

import datetime

# Define a time string
time = "01:01:09"
date_time = datetime.datetime.strptime(time, "%H:%M:%S")

# Calculate the difference from the reference datetime
a_timedelta = date_time - datetime.datetime(1900, 1, 1)
seconds = a_timedelta.total_seconds()

print(seconds) 

Output:

3669.0

2. Using timestamp() Method

We can use timestamp() method from datetime module in python to convert a datetime object to seconds. The timestamp() method returns a floating-point value representing the number of seconds, including fractions of a second.

Here, we are creating a datetime object using today() function, this function will return the current local date and time. Then we converted the datetime object to seconds using timestamp() method. This method converts the given datetime object to the number of seconds since the Unix epoch (1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC).

from datetime import datetime

# Get current date and time
dt = datetime.today()
seconds = dt.timestamp()

print(seconds) 

Output:

1706977614.491229

3. Using calendar.timegm() Method

We can use calendar.timegm() Method to convert a datetime object to seconds. This function converts the UTC time tuple to the number of seconds since the epoch (1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC) and returns the result as an integer.

Here, we are creating a datetime object using today() function, this function will return the current local date and time. We then use the utctimetuple() method of the datetime object to retrieve a time tuple representing the dt object.

The utctimetuple() method returns a time tuple in the format (year, month, day, hour, minute, second, weekday, yearday, isdst). We pass the UTC time tuple obtained from dt to the calendar.timegm() method.

from datetime import datetime
import calendar

# Get current date and time
dt = datetime.today()
seconds = calendar.timegm(dt.utctimetuple())

print(seconds)  

Output:

1706977627

Conclusion

In conclusion, Python’s datetime module gives access to the date and time handling in python. In this article, we learned Converting datetime objects to seconds for data analysis. We used Methods such as total_seconds(), timestamp(), and calendar.timegm() to convert datetime object to seconds.

Convert A Datetime Object To Seconds – FAQs

How to Convert Datetime to Seconds in Pandas

If you have a datetime column and you want to convert it to seconds since a certain epoch (e.g., Unix epoch), you can use the timestamp() method after ensuring the datetime is in a proper pandas datetime format. Here’s how to do it:

import pandas as pd

# Sample DataFrame with datetime
df = pd.DataFrame({
    'datetime': pd.to_datetime(['2024-01-01 12:00:00', '2024-01-02 12:00:00'])
})

# Convert datetime to seconds since Unix epoch
df['seconds'] = df['datetime'].apply(lambda x: x.timestamp())
print(df)

How to Convert Datetime Object to Milliseconds

To convert a datetime object to milliseconds, you first convert it to seconds and then multiply by 1000 to get milliseconds:

# Convert datetime to milliseconds since Unix epoch
df['milliseconds'] = df['datetime'].apply(lambda x: int(x.timestamp() * 1000))
print(df)

How to Format Date Time Seconds

If you’re looking to format a datetime object to include seconds, you can use the strftime method to format the datetime as a string with seconds:

# Format datetime to include seconds
df['formatted_datetime'] = df['datetime'].dt.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
print(df['formatted_datetime'])