def serialized(self):
        to_ret = {}
        for group, requirements in self.items():
            to_ret[group] = [str(requirement) for requirement in requirements]
        return to_ret
def days_till_due(self):
        """
        Returns the number of days till the due date. Returns a negative number
        of days when the due date is in the past.
        Returns 0 when the task has no due date.
        """
        due = self.due_date()
        if due:
            diff = due - date.today()
            return diff.days
        return 0