Master Arrow in Python: Convert UTC, Local, and datetime Seamlessly

Outline

People often ask how to learn a knowledge point; this outline shows that summarizing and comparing concepts, following a clear learning logic, prevents feeling overwhelmed.

1. Arrow and local time usage

1) Get current UTC time

utc = arrow.utcnow()
print(utc)

2) Get current local time

local = utc.now()
print(local)
# or
local = utc.to("local")
print(local)

3) Get timestamp of local time

local.timestamp

4) Format Arrow time

local.format("YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss ZZ")
local.format("YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss")

5) Shift Arrow time forward or backward

print(local.shift(years=1))
print(local.shift(years=-1))
print(local.shift(months=1))
print(local.shift(months=-1))

2. Arrow and arbitrary time usage

1) Create Arrow from numeric components

arrow.get(2020, 8, 1, 14, 55, 55)
arrow.get(2020, 8, 1)

2) Parse Arrow from a formatted string

arrow.get('2020,08-01 14:58:55', 'YYYY,MM-DD hh:mm:ss')
arrow.get('John was born in May 2000', 'MMMM YYYY')

3) Parse Arrow from a timestamp

arrow.get(1596261535)

3. Converting Arrow to native datetime types

1) Arrow to datetime

arrow.utcnow().now()
arrow.utcnow().now().datetime
arrow.utcnow().to("local").naive

2) Arrow to date

arrow.utcnow().to("local")
arrow.utcnow().to("local").date()

3) Arrow to time

arrow.utcnow().to("local")
arrow.utcnow().to("local").time()