1. Introduction

In Python, handling dates and times is often done using date and datetime objects from the datetime module. Sometimes you have a date object, and you need to add a specific time to it to create a datetime object for more detailed operations. This blog post provides a guide on how to convert a date object to a datetime object in Python.

Definition

A date object represents a date (year, month, and day) in Python, while a datetime object represents both a date and a time. To convert from date to datetime, you need to add a time component to the existing date, thus creating an instance of datetime.

2. Program Steps

1. Import the datetime class from the datetime module.

2. Start with a date object that you want to convert.

3. Combine the date object with a time object to create a datetime object.

4. Output the new datetime object.

3. Code Program

# Step 1: Import the datetime class
from datetime import datetime, date

# Step 2: Create a date object (or use an existing one)
my_date = date.today()

# Step 3: Specify the time to combine with the date (defaulting to midnight)
my_datetime = datetime.combine(my_date, datetime.min.time())

# Step 4: Print the datetime object
print(my_datetime)

Output:

2023-04-30 00:00:00

Explanation:

1. The datetime class is used for manipulating dates and times while the date class is used for date objects. Both are imported from the datetime module.

2. my_date is created using date.today(), which returns the current local date.

3. my_datetime is created using datetime.combine, which combines my_date with the earliest time of the day, which is datetime.min.time() (midnight).

4. The resulting my_datetime is printed, showing the combination of the current date with the time set to midnight.