Attempting to Convert Time Into an Integer in Python 3

Question

I'm extremely new to Python and programming in general, and I've been working at this particular issue for about four hours now. I am trying to convert a time (ex. 12:30) to something usable in an "if" statement. Here's what I've tried so far:

time = input("Enter the time the call starts in 24-hour notation:\n").split(":")
if time >= 8:30 and time <= 18:00:
    print("YES")

When attempting to perform that, I get an invalid syntax error. When I attempt to convert the time to an integer [callTime = int(time)] , I get an error stating that the

int() argument must be a string

This is just a piece of the entire problem I am working on, but I think I can figure out the rest if I can just get a jumping off point with this issue. Although I don't believe I'm allowed to use datetime on this particular problem; anything would help.

EDIT: Corrected int(time)

Answer 1

8:30 is not a valid datatype. Convert it as integer to make it work (8:30 = 8 hours and 30 min = 8*60+30 min)

>>> time = input("Enter the time the call starts in 24-hour notation:\n").split(":")
Enter the time the call starts in 24-hour notation:
12:30
>>> time
['12', '30'] # list of str
>>> time = [int(i) for i in time] # will raise an exception if str cannot be converted to int
>>> time
[12, 30] # list of int
>>> 60*time[0] + time[1] # time in minutes
750
>>> 

To get it in seconds, like 12:30:58 , do the same thing with time_in_sec = time[0] * 3600 + time[1] * 60 + time[2] in the last line.

Due to modulo properties, it's guaranteed that only one "real" time correspond to an hour converted as integer.
For your problem, create a function to_integer(time_as_list) returning an int, and then compare user entry to to_integer('18:00'.split(':')) and to_integer('8:30'.split(':'))

Answer 2

Working with time manually is not trivial. I suggest that you use the datetime module that supports time conversion, comparison, etc.

from datetime import datetime as dt
t = input("...")
t_object = dt.strptime(t, "%H:%M")
if t_object >= dt.strptime("8:30", "%H:%M") and \
   t_object <= dt.strptime("18:00", "%H:%M"):
    do_your_stuff()

Answer 3

You are using a colon where Python expects a number or variable name. In this statement: if time >= 8:30 and time <= 18:00: , you need to put the time values in quotes ( "8:30" ) since they are non-numerical. Then, however, you will run into the issue of comparing two non-numerical values with your >= and <= statements. Comparisons only work with actual values, and the colon makes the value into a string instead of an int or float. It would be a better idea to convert the time into an integer by stripping out the colon for comparisons and other manipulation, then you can add the colon back in as necessary.

Answer 4

My take on the problem (without datetime ):

answer = input("Enter the time the call starts in 24-hour notation:\n")
t = tuple(int(i) for i in answer.split(':'))

if (8, 30) <= t <= (18, 0):
    print("YES")