Go:
Parsing a date from a string

How to:

Go provides robust support for parsing dates and times through the time package. The key is understanding Go’s reference date format: Mon Jan 2 15:04:05 MST 2006, which you use to tell Go how to interpret the incoming string. Here’s a quick example to get you started:

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"time"
)

func main() {
	// Example date string
	dateStr := "2023-04-12 14:45:00"
	
	// Define the layout/format of the input date string
	// This layout tells Go to expect a year, followed by a month, 
	// then a day, hour, minute, and finally second
	layout := "2006-01-02 15:04:05"
	
	// Parse the date string according to the layout
	parsedDate, err := time.Parse(layout, dateStr)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println("Error parsing date:", err)
		return
	}
	
	// Output the parsed date
	fmt.Println("Parsed Date:", parsedDate)
}

When you run this code, you’ll get:

Parsed Date: 2023-04-12 14:45:00 +0000 UTC

Note how the layout string uses the reference date’s values to specify the format of the input string. Adjust the layout to match the format of your input dates.

Deep Dive

The design of Go’s date and time parsing is unique, utilizing a specific reference date (Mon Jan 2 15:04:05 MST 2006). This approach, instead of using more conventional format specifiers (like YYYY for year), was chosen for readability and ease of use, leveraging a more example-based format.

While this can initially seem unusual to programmers accustomed to other languages, many find it more intuitive after a brief adjustment period. For applications requiring more complex date manipulation or formats not directly supported by Go’s time package, third-party libraries such as github.com/jinzhu/now can offer additional functionality. However, for the majority of standard applications, Go’s built-in capabilities are robust, performant, and idiomatic, embodying the Go philosophy of simplicity and clarity.