How to Efficiently Generate a Range of Dates in Python?

Creating a Range of Dates in Python

Suppose you need to create a list of dates, starting with today and going back a specified number of days. For example, let's create a list of 100 dates starting from today.

Inefficient Method

One way to approach this is with a simple loop:

<code class="python">import datetime

a = datetime.datetime.today()
numdays = 100
dateList = []
for x in range (0, numdays):
    dateList.append(a - datetime.timedelta(days = x))
print dateList</code>

This method is functional but inefficient. It creates each date individually and requires multiple computations.

Optimized Method

A more efficient solution involves using list comprehension:

<code class="python">base = datetime.datetime.today()
date_list = [base - datetime.timedelta(days=x) for x in range(numdays)]</code>

This approach creates the entire list of dates at once. It utilizes a list comprehension to iterate over a range and compute each date's difference from the base date.

The optimized method is more efficient and concise, providing a simpler and faster alternative for generating a range of dates in Python.

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