Date and Time

Date and Time in C# are two commonly used data types. Both Date and Time in C# are represented using C# DateTime class. C# DateTime is a structure of value Type like int, double etc. It is available in System namespace and present in mscorlib.dll assembly.

CODE

EG 1 . Creating a DateTime object and accessing properties inside it.

class Program {
    static void main(){
        //DateTime.Now will store current date and time values to currentTime object.
        DateTime currentTime = DateTime.Now;
        Console.WriteLine(currentTime.Day);
        Console.WriteLine(currentTime.Minute);
        Console.WriteLine(currentTime.Year);
        Console.WriteLine(currentTime.Month);
        Console.WriteLine(currentTime.DayOfWeek);
        Console.WriteLine(currentTime.DayOfYear);
        Console.WriteLine(currentTime.TimeOfDay);
    }
}

OUTPUT
(Program executed on 10/31/2022 7:17 AM)
31
17
2022
10
Monday
304
07:17:06.7839164

CODE EXPLANATION
In the above code, we created a DateTime instance called currentTime where we stored all the current Date and Time value using DateTime.Now. DateTime structure is having lot of properties like Day, Minute, Year, Month etc which gives us the value of current day and time. Above we printed out some of the current DateTime values in console.


EG 2 . Creating a line of code and making it work only for 48 hours

class Program {
    static void main(){
        //Date while writing this code 10/29/2022
        DateTime currentTime = DateTime.Now;
        if (currentTime.Year == 2022) {
            if (currentTime.Day <= 31 && currentTime.Month<=10) {
                Console.WriteLine("The Line of code");
            }
        }
    }
}

OUTPUT
(Program executed on 10/31/2022 7:17 AM)
The Line of code

CODE EXPLANATION
In the above code, we created a DateTime instance called currentTime. We want to execute certain line of code within given time frame. Using DateTime properties we set certain conditions which make the code work only for next 2 days(upto 10/31/2022). If day goes beyond 10/31/2022, the line of code will not be executed since conditions will turn to false.


Where to use DateTime?
I'll give you a Practical example for this
Imagine you are working on an Automation tool for your client. Assume the actual time required to complete that tool will be 1 month. On 15th day itself, you completed 80% of work. Client asking for you to share demo version. You almost completed the tool and obviously no one will share their tool before client complete full payment. In this case we can use DateTime concept to set certain time frame so that the tool what we created will work only for fixed time.

Exercises
1. Write a method to Print triangle shape using * and make it work only for next 1 week.

(Click Here, For more exercises)