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Asked: 2024-09-25T18:14:31+05:30 In:

How can I find the start and end times of the current day in both UTC and EST using Python? I’m looking for a way to effectively determine these times and any necessary adjustments for time zones.

I’ve been trying to figure out how to find the start and end times of the current day in both UTC and EST using Python, and I’m honestly a bit stuck. I thought it would be straightforward, but I’ve run into some snags, especially with how time zones work.

So here’s what I’m trying to achieve: I want to get the start of the day, which I imagine is midnight (00:00:00), and the end of the day, which would be one second before midnight the next day (23:59:59) for both UTC and EST. The kicker is, I want to do all of this in a way that will automatically adjust for any daylight saving time changes that might be in effect for EST.

I know Python has some great libraries for dealing with dates and times, like `datetime` and `pytz`, but I’m not fully sure how to put it all together. I initially considered just using the `datetime` module to get the current date and time, but then I realized I would need to use `pytz` to properly handle the time zone conversions.

One thing that confuses me is whether I should first set my time to UTC and then convert to EST, or the other way around—does that make a difference? Also, do I need to worry about the fact that not all places in EST change their clocks for daylight saving time?

I’d love some guidance on how to structure my code so that I can easily get those start and end times for both zones. Maybe someone can share a snippet or just a step-by-step breakdown of how they would tackle this? It’s pretty frustrating looking at various examples online where it seems like the time zone stuff gets glossed over.

If anyone can shed some light on the best practices for handling this time zone stuff in Python while achieving what I need, that would be amazing! Thanks!

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    2 Answers


    1. To find the start and end times of the current day in both UTC and EST, you can use the `datetime` and `pytz` libraries in Python. The first step is to get the current date and create the start and end times for the day. You’ll want to create a datetime object representing midnight for the current day in UTC. From there, you can convert that time to EST, while ensuring that you account for daylight saving time adjustments. Here’s a straightforward way to handle this:

      import datetime
import pytz

# Get the current date in UTC
utc_now = datetime.datetime.now(pytz.utc)
start_of_day_utc = utc_now.replace(hour=0, minute=0, second=0, microsecond=0)
end_of_day_utc = start_of_day_utc + datetime.timedelta(days=1) - datetime.timedelta(seconds=1)

# Convert to EST
est_tz = pytz.timezone('America/New_York')
start_of_day_est = start_of_day_utc.astimezone(est_tz)
end_of_day_est = end_of_day_utc.astimezone(est_tz)

print("Start of Day UTC:", start_of_day_utc)
print("End of Day UTC:", end_of_day_utc)
print("Start of Day EST:", start_of_day_est)
print("End of Day EST:", end_of_day_est)

      In this code snippet, we first obtain the current date and time in UTC using `datetime.datetime.now(pytz.utc)`. Then we create the start of the day by modifying the hour, minute, and second attributes using `replace()`, and similarly determine the end of the day. When converting to EST, we use `astimezone(est_tz)` to make the required adjustment, automatically accounting for daylight saving time. The order doesn’t matter as long as you start with a timezone-aware datetime object; you should always avoid naive datetime manipulations to prevent issues with timezone handling.




    2. Getting Start and End Times in UTC and EST

      How to Get Current Day Start and End Times in UTC and EST

      So, you’re trying to figure out the start and end times for today in UTC and EST, while also handling daylight saving time – totally get it! It can be a bit tricky, but I’ve got you covered. Here’s a simple way to do it using Python with the `datetime` and `pytz` libraries.

      Step-by-Step Guide

      1. Install pytz: First, make sure you have the `pytz` library installed. You can do that via pip:
        2. pip install pytz
      2. Import Required Libraries: You will need to import `datetime` and `pytz`:
        3. import datetime
import pytz
      3. Get Current Date: Use `datetime.datetime.now()` to get the current date:
        4. now_utc = datetime.datetime.now(pytz.utc)
      4. Define Start and End Times for UTC: Create the start and end time for UTC:
        5. start_utc = now_utc.replace(hour=0, minute=0, second=0, microsecond=0)
end_utc = now_utc.replace(hour=23, minute=59, second=59, microsecond=999999)
      5. Convert to EST: Now you will create the EST timezone and convert the start and end times:
        6. est = pytz.timezone('America/New_York')
start_est = start_utc.astimezone(est)
end_est = end_utc.astimezone(est)
      6. Print the Times: Finally, print out the times:
        7. print(f"UTC Start: {start_utc}, End: {end_utc}")
print(f"EST Start: {start_est}, End: {end_est}")

      Complete Code Snippet

      import datetime
import pytz

# Current time in UTC
now_utc = datetime.datetime.now(pytz.utc)

# Start and End for UTC
start_utc = now_utc.replace(hour=0, minute=0, second=0, microsecond=0)
end_utc = now_utc.replace(hour=23, minute=59, second=59, microsecond=999999)

# EST timezone
est = pytz.timezone('America/New_York')
start_est = start_utc.astimezone(est)
end_est = end_utc.astimezone(est)

# Print results
print(f"UTC Start: {start_utc}, End: {end_utc}")
print(f"EST Start: {start_est}, End: {end_est}")

      Things to Keep in Mind

      1. Always work in UTC when dealing with time zones to avoid confusion.
      2. Using pytz helps handle daylight saving time automatically, but just be aware that not all areas in EST change their clocks.

      Hope this helps you out! With these steps, you should be able to get the start and end times for both UTC and EST easily. Good luck!


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