# Current date and time

**In this article, you will learn to get today's date and current date and time in Python. We will also format the date and time in different formats using strftime() method.**

There are a number of ways you can take to get the current date. We will use the `date` class of the [datetime](https://www.programiz.com/python-programming/datetime) module to accomplish this task.

### Example 1: Python get today's date

```
from datetime import date

today = date.today()
print("Today's date:", today)
```

Here, we imported the `date` class from the `datetime` module. Then, we used the `date.today()` method to get the current local date.

By the way, `date.today()` returns a `date` object, which is assigned to the today variable in the above program. Now, you can use the [strftime()](https://www.programiz.com/python-programming/datetime/strftime) method to create a string representing date in different formats.

### Example 2: Current date in different formats

```
from datetime import date

today = date.today()

# dd/mm/YY
d1 = today.strftime("%d/%m/%Y")
print("d1 =", d1)

# Textual month, day and year	
d2 = today.strftime("%B %d, %Y")
print("d2 =", d2)

# mm/dd/y
d3 = today.strftime("%m/%d/%y")
print("d3 =", d3)

# Month abbreviation, day and year	
d4 = today.strftime("%b-%d-%Y")
print("d4 =", d4)
```

When you run the program, the output will be something like:

```
d1 = 16/09/2019
d2 = September 16, 2019
d3 = 09/16/19
d4 = Sep-16-2019
```

If you need to get the current date and time, you can use `datetime` class of the `datetime` module.

### Example 3: Get the current date and time

```
from datetime import datetime

# datetime object containing current date and time
now = datetime.now()
 
print("now =", now)

# dd/mm/YY H:M:S
dt_string = now.strftime("%d/%m/%Y %H:%M:%S")
print("date and time =", dt_string)	
```

Here, we have used `datetime.now()` to get the current date and time. Then, we used `strftime()` to create a string representing date and time in another format.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://python.dainganxanh.com/chuong8/current-date-and-time.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.