Checking date against date range in Python

Question

I have a date variable: 2011-01-15 and I would like to get a boolean back if said date is within 3 days from TODAY. Im not quite sure how to construct this in Python. Im only dealing with date, not datetime.

My working example is a "grace period". A user logs into my site and if the grace period is within 3 days of today, additional scripts, etc. are omitted for that user.

I know you can do some fancy/complex things in Python's date module(s) but Im not sure where to look.

Answer 1

In Python to check a range you can use a <= x <= b:

>>> import datetime >>> today = datetime.date.today() >>> margin = datetime.timedelta(days = 3)  >>> today - margin <= datetime.date(2011, 1, 15) <= today + margin True 

Answer 2

Subtracting two date objects gives you a timedelta object, which you can compare to other timedelta objects.

For example:

>>> from datetime import date, timedelta >>> date(2011, 1, 15) - date.today() datetime.timedelta(1) >>> date(2011, 1, 15) - date.today() < timedelta(days = 3) True >>> date(2011, 1, 18) - date.today() < timedelta(days = 3) False 

As to "where to look": the official documentation is excellent.