---
id: dateformat
version: "0.9.7"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: abandoned
---

# dateformat — Parse and format dates quickly

License: permissive · Maintenance: abandoned · Downloads: 138.8K/mo

## What it is and what it does

dateformat wraps Python's datetime module to provide an alternative to strftime/strptime with a simpler, more readable format syntax. Instead of cryptic codes, you write YYYY-MM-DD. The package constructs a DateFormat object from a spec string, then uses its parse() and format() methods to convert between strings and datetime objects. It handles timezone offsets and named timezones (if pytz is available) more explicitly than the standard library.

The package was designed to address perceived gaps in existing solutions: better timezone handling, explicit format specification to avoid parsing ambiguity, and reusable format objects to avoid rebuilding parsers for each date. However, the project has been abandoned since 2019 and receives no maintenance.

Use it for:

- Parse dates from external APIs or data sources with a known, fixed format and timezone offset
- Format datetime objects for output to systems expecting a specific date string layout
- Handle dates with timezone information more explicitly than strftime allows
- Replace strftime/strptime calls where the format spec is more readable than % codes

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Parses strings into datetime objects and formats datetime objects into strings using explicit, human-readable format specifications instead of strftime codes.

No. The package is abandoned (last release April 2019, no commits since November 2022) and has not been updated for modern Python versions. Unless you are maintaining legacy code that already depends on it, use Python's built-in datetime module with strftime/strptime, or consider actively maintained alternatives. High install friction and zero security updates compound the maintenance risk.

## Install

pip install dateformat
uv add dateformat
poetry add dateformat

## Installing dateformat

Before you install: High install friction with no runtime dependencies. Package is abandoned—last release April 2019, last commit November 2022, no activity since. Maintenance status makes this a legacy choice; consider only if existing code depends on it.

License in practice: MIT license is permissive; you may use, modify, and distribute this package freely with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

from dateformat import DateFormat

date_format = DateFormat("YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.SSSS+HH:MM")
date = date_format.parse("2017-06-03 15:32:00.2364-02:00")
print(date_format.format(date))

No runtime dependencies, but package is unmaintained since 2019 and may have compatibility issues with modern Python versions.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package works reliably on Python versions released after 2019
- Performance benchmarks mentioned in description but truncated—actual speed claims cannot be verified
- Whether pytz integration for named timezones is fully functional

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: high
- Maintenance: abandoned
- Downloads: 138.8K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

date parsing and formatting, datetime string conversion, explicit date format specification, timezone-aware date parsing, alternative to strftime strptime, date-time, abandoned

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