code: def period(
      data: Union[Period, str], freq: Optional[Union[Freq, str]] = None
  ) -> Period:
      """Create a ``zebras.Period`` object that represents a period of time.
  
      Parameters
      ----------
      data
          The time period represented by a string (e.g., "2023-01-01"),
          or another Period object.
      freq, optional
          The frequency of the period, e.g, "H" for hourly, by default None.
  
      Returns
      -------
          A ``zebras.Period`` object.
      """
      if freq is None:
          if hasattr(data, "freqstr"):
              freq = Freq.from_pandas(data.freqstr)
          else:
              raise ValueError("No frequency specified.")
      elif isinstance(freq, Freq):
          freq = freq
      elif isinstance(freq, str):
          freq = Freq.from_pandas(freq)
      else:
          raise ValueError(f"Unknown frequency type {type(freq)}.")
  
      data_: Any
  
      if isinstance(data, Period):
          data_ = data.data
  
      elif isinstance(data, str):
          data_ = du_parse(
              data,
              default=datetime.datetime(1970, 1, 1),
              ignoretz=True,
          )
      else:
          # TODO: should we add a check?
          data_ = data
  
      return Period(
          freq.align(np.datetime64(data_, freq.np_freq)), freq
      )
  
imports: from __future__ import annotations
  import datetime
  import functools
  from dataclasses import dataclass
  from typing import Any, Union, Optional, Tuple, cast, overload
  import numpy
  from dateutil.parser import parse
  from gluonts.core import serde
  from ._freq import Freq
label_desc: Use image node_id 3 for calling a global function with example usage: period(data, freq) and returns: Period