How can I serialize dates in Python?

How can I serialize dates in Python?

You can use the json module along with a custom encoder to serialize dates. Would you like an example?

Yes, please provide an example of how to do that.

Sure! You can create a custom JSON encoder like this:

import json
from datetime import datetime

class DateTimeEncoder(json.JSONEncoder):
    def default(self, obj):
        if isinstance(obj, datetime):
            return obj.isoformat()
        return super().default(obj)

# Usage
now = datetime.now()
serialized_date = json.dumps(now, cls=DateTimeEncoder)
print(serialized_date)

What if I want to deserialize the date back to a datetime object?

You can use datetime.fromisoformat() to deserialize it. For example:

from datetime import datetime

date_str = '2023-10-01T12:30:45'
deserialized_date = datetime.fromisoformat(date_str)
print(deserialized_date)