Gain insights into Python 3 by exploring fundamental and advanced concepts. Learn about functions, data structures, and OOP while reinforcing knowledge with quizzes and coding challenges.

Python is an important programming language used in data science, machine learning, web scraping, and web application development, making it essential for modern developers.
This course starts with teaching fundamental programming concepts in Python 3, including conditional execution, repetition, and functions, before moving on to advanced topics like data structures and object-oriented programming. Quizzes and hands-on coding challenges along the way help reinforce what you have learned.

By the end of this course, you will have a solid foundation in Python programming, enabling you to write clean and efficient code and tackle more advanced topics and projects with confidence.

Learn Intermediate Python 3

The **Python Standard Library (PSL)**, is a collection of pre-defined modules that contain many useful utilities which spare us a lot of time. These include different types of complex mathematical functions, high-level data types, network programming tools, and this is just the tip of the iceberg!

Let's dive in. 

# `datetime`
Let's start by importing the `datetime` module which contains several methods related to the current date and time. As always, these methods can be accessed using the `.` operator:

# Importing modules at the beginning of the program is a good practice
import datetime
date_today = datetime.date.today()  # Current date
print(date_today)

time_today = datetime.datetime.now()
print(time_today.strftime("%H:%M:%S"))  # Current time
print(time_today.strftime("%A, %B %d, %Y"))  
print(time_today.strftime("%I:%M:%S %p"))  
print(time_today.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"))  

## Explanation
Here is the explanation of the code provided above:


* **Line 2:** Imports `datetime` module.

* **Lines 3–4:** `today` is a method of the `datetime.date` class that returns the current date as a `datetime.date` object. The returned object is then stored in the `date_today` variable and displayed in the format YYYY-MM-DD (e.g., 2024-07-30).

* **Line 6:** `now` is a method of the datetime class within the `datetime` module. Note that this is different from `datetime.date` used earlier. It returns the current date and time as a `datetime.datetime` object which is then stored inside the `time_today` variable.

* **Lines 7--10:** `strftime` is method of the `datetime.datetime` object that allows you to format the date and time string according to a specific format code. In this example, the formatting used is `"%H:%M:%S"`. `%H` displays hour in 24-hour format (00–23), `%M` displays minutes (00–59), and `%S` displays the seconds (00–59). You can change the order of the elements displayed or apply a different formatting. The following table shows  some formats: 




Explore some of the key tasks performed using the Python Standard Library.

Introduction

Data Types, Variables, and Operators

Selection Statements

Functions

Repetition: Loops and Recursion

Python Exam I

Data Structures

Object-Oriented Programming in Python

Libraries

Appendix

Python Exam II

What Is the Python Standard Library?

`datetime`

Explanation