對於像'Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:37:05 +0800'的時間格式化可如下解：
>>> date='Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:37:05 +0800'
>>> dd=datetime.datetime.strptime(date,'%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S %z')
>>> dd.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
Python格式化日期時間的函數為datetime.datetime.strftime()；由字符串轉為日期型的函數為：datetime.datetime.strptime()，兩個函數都涉及日期時間的格式化字符串，列舉如下：
%a Abbreviated weekday name %A Full weekday name %b Abbreviated month name %B Full month name %c Date and time representation appropriate for locale %d Day of month as decimal number (01 - 31) %H Hour in 24-hour format (00 - 23) %I Hour in 12-hour format (01 - 12) %j Day of year as decimal number (001 - 366) %m Month as decimal number (01 - 12) %M Minute as decimal number (00 - 59) %p Current locale's A.M./P.M. indicator for 12-hour clock %S Second as decimal number (00 - 59) %U Week of year as decimal number, with Sunday as first day of week (00 - 51) %w Weekday as decimal number (0 - 6; Sunday is 0) %W Week of year as decimal number, with Monday as first day of week (00 - 51) %x Date representation for current locale %X Time representation for current locale %y Year without century, as decimal number (00 - 99) %Y Year with century, as decimal number %z, %Z Time-zone name or abbreviation; no characters if time zone is unknown %% Percent sign