How to convert API timestamp into python datetime object
Question: I am getting the following string from an API call:

    
    
    s = '2014-12-11T20:46:12Z'
    

How would I then convert this into a python object? Is there an easy way, or
should I be splitting up the string, for example:

    
    
    year = s.split('-')[0]
    month = s.split('-')[1]
    day = s.split('-')[2]
    time = s.split('T')[1]
    ...etc...
    


Answer: You can use the
[`datetime.datetime.strptime`](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html)
function:

    
    
    >>> from datetime import datetime
    >>> s = '2014-12-11T20:46:12Z'
    >>> datetime.strptime(s, '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ')
    datetime.datetime(2014, 12, 11, 20, 46, 12)
    >>>
    

For a complete list of the available format codes, see [`strftime()` and
`strptime()`
Behavior](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-
strptime-behavior).

