Common datetime patterns in Python

Now, and timezone-aware now

from datetime import datetime, timezone, timedelta

naive = datetime.now()
aware = datetime.now(timezone.utc)

Format and parse

aware.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")          # to string
datetime.strptime("2026-03-01", "%Y-%m-%d")  # from string

Durations with timedelta

deadline = aware + timedelta(days=7)
remaining = deadline - aware

Prefer timezone-aware datetimes for anything stored or compared across systems. Use the standard library's zoneinfo for named zones like Europe/Paris.