How to use DateTime in C#

using System;
class HelloWorld
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Storing date as String
        string dateString = "15/07/2020 06:30:45 PM";
        
        // Directly initializing date as DateTime variable
        DateTime date1 = new DateTime(2020, 7, 15, 18, 30, 45);
        // Parsing string to DateTime
        DateTime date2 = DateTime.ParseExact(dateString, "dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm:ss tt", System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
        
        // Both dates output 07 15 20 18:30:45
        Console.WriteLine(date1.ToString("MM dd yy HH:mm:ss"));
        Console.WriteLine(date2.ToString("MM dd yy HH:mm:ss"));
        // Outputs Wednesday July, 2020 06:30:45 PM
        Console.WriteLine(date1.ToString("dddd MMMM, yyyy hh:mm:ss tt"));
        // Outputs 07/15/2020
        Console.WriteLine(date1.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy"));
        // Outputs 06:30:45 PM
        Console.WriteLine(date1.ToString("hh:mm:ss tt"));
    }
}

This example demonstrates how DateTime variables are initialized and then parsed to strings. Parsing to and from a string can be done by comparing the string to a user-defined format.

C# allows users to define their own format using strings. Different components of time are represented in the format as different strings. Some of these are:

d represents the day without a leading $0$ . It ranges from $1$ to $31$ .
dd represents the day with a leading $0$ . It ranges from $01$ to $31$ .
ddd represents an abbreviated name for a day like Mon or Tues.
dddd represents the full name for a day like Monday or Tuesday.
M is the month number without a leading zero. It ranges from $1$ to $12$ .
MM is the month number with a leading zero. It ranges from $01$ to $12$ .
MMM is an abbreviated name of a month like Jan or Feb.
MMMM is the full name of a month like January or February.
y is the year with a minimum of one digit. For instance, 2001 would be $1$ .
yy is the year with a minimum of two digits. For instance, 2001 would be $01$ .
yyy is the year with a minimum of three digits. For instance, 2001 would be $001$ .
yyyy is a four-digit representation of a year. For instance, 2001 would be $2001$ .
h is the hour in 12-hour notation without a leading zero. For example, 4 AM and 4 PM would both be $4$ .
hh is the hour in 12-hour notation with a leading zero. For example, 4 AM and 4 PM would both be $04$ .
H is the hour in 24-hour notation without a leading zero. For example, 4 AM and 4 PM would be $4$ and $16$ , respectively.
HH is the hour in 24-hour notation with a leading zero. For example, 4 AM and 4 PM would be $04$ and $16$ , respectively.
m is the minutes without a leading zero. It ranges from $0$ to $59$ .
mm is the minutes with a leading zero. It ranges from $00$ to $59$ .
s is the seconds without a leading zero. It ranges from $0$ to $60$ .
ss is the seconds with a leading zero. It ranges from $00$ to $60$ .
t is a single-character abbreviation for AM and PM. AM will become A and PM will become P.
tt is AM and PM.
K is the time-zone. For example, $+05:00$ .
z represents a minimum single-digit offset from the Coordinated Universal Timezone in hours. For example, $+5$ .
zz represents a minimum two-digit offset from the Coordinated Universal Timezone in hours. For example, $+05$ .
zz represents an offset from the Coordinated Universal Timezone in hours and minutes. For example, $+05:00$ .
f represents the decimals in a seconds value. The number of decimal digits is equal to the number of f’s in the format – there can be up to seven f’s. For example, fff may show $224$ for a seconds value of 2:22459 and $000$ for 2:00000.
F represents the non-zero decimals in a seconds value. The number of decimal digits is equal to the number of F’s in the format – there can be up to seven F’s. For example, FFF may show $224$ for a seconds value of 2:22459, but it would show nothing for 2:00000.

Free AI Mock Interviews

Coding Interview

Coding PatternsFree Interview

Gain insights and practical experience with coding patterns through targeted MCQs and coding problems, designed to match and challenge your expertise level.

System Design

You TubeFree Interview

Learn to design a video streaming platform like YouTube by tackling functional and non-functional requirements, core components, and high-level to detailed design challenges.

Free Resources

How to use DateTime in C#

DateTime

Usage