The **`strftime()` method**  converts date, time, or the [datetime](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html) object to its equivalent date or time string. 

An explicit format string controls the returned string formatting. Some useful directives are listed below. The complete list of argument string formatting directives is [here](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-strptime-behavior). 

Some useful directives

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## Syntax

---
```python
date.strftime(format)
```
---

## Parameters
* **`format`**: This is a string format.

## Return value
It returns a string representing `date` and `time` object.
## Explanation
The code below demonstrates this method's use in a program:

# Importing date class from datetime module
from datetime import date
# today's date
now = date.today()
print(now)
# Getting day of month as zero padded decimal
day = now.strftime("%d")
print("day:", day)
# Getting month as zero padded decimal value
month = now.strftime("%m")
print("month:", month)
# Getting year with century
year = now.strftime("%Y")
print("year:", year)


## Code explanation

* **Line 2**: We load the `date` class from the `datetime` module.

* **Line 4**: We fetch today's date using the `date.today()` method in the `now` variable. 

* **Line 7**: We extract the day from the `now` object using the `%d` string directive.

* **Line 10**: We extract the month from the `now` date object using the `%m` string directive.

* **Line 13**: We extract the year from the `now` date object using the `%Y` string directive.

Directive	Meaning
`%d`	Day of month as zero padded decimal value.
`%m`	Month as zero padded decimal value.
`%B`	Full name of month.
`%Y`	Year with century as a decimal value.
`%y`	Year as zero padded decimal value.
`%%`	Literal for `%` symbol.

What is the date.strftime() method in Python?

Some useful directives

Syntax

Parameters

Return value

Explanation

Code explanation