R Academy · Lesson

Dates and Times in R

Convert string data into Date or POSIXct objects and learn to format dates for analysis.

Lesson 3 of 310 steps

Dates and Times in R is a free R Academy lesson on CoddyKit. This is lesson 3 of 3. Any 3 lessons of this learning path are free to read in full — after that, CoddyKit PRO unlocks every lesson, plus hands-on practice with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. It is part of the R Academy learning path, and your progress syncs across the web and the CoddyKit app. The R Academy course includes 3 lessons in total.

Introduction to Dates and Times in R

Working with dates and times is crucial in data analysis. R provides several functions to handle dates and times efficiently.

Creating Dates

Use the as.Date() function to create date objects.

date <- as.Date('2025-03-10')
print(date)

Extracting Date Components

You can extract year, month, and day using format().

format(date, '%Y')
format(date, '%m')
format(date, '%d')

Performing Date Arithmetic

You can add or subtract days from a date.

new_date <- date + 10
print(new_date)

Working with Date-Time

The POSIXct class stores both date and time.

datetime <- as.POSIXct('2025-03-10 14:30:00')
print(datetime)

Formatting Date-Time

Use format() to change date-time display.

format(datetime, '%B %d, %Y %H:%M')

Calculating Time Differences

You can calculate differences between two dates or times.

diff <- difftime(as.POSIXct('2025-03-15'), as.POSIXct('2025-03-10'), units='days')
print(diff)

Using Lubridate for Dates

The lubridate package simplifies date operations.

library(lubridate)
date <- ymd('2025-03-10')
print(date)

Summary

In this lesson, you learned:

How to create and manipulate dates in R.
How to perform date arithmetic.
How to use lubridate for easier date handling.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is the “Dates and Times in R” lesson free?

Yes — any 3 lessons of the R Academy learning path, including “Dates and Times in R”, are free to read in full here on the web. After that, CoddyKit PRO unlocks every lesson, plus interactive practice with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. The R Academy course includes 3 lessons in total.

What will I learn in “Dates and Times in R”?

Convert string data into Date or POSIXct objects and learn to format dates for analysis. You practise R Academy with hands-on code you run directly in the browser, and a 24/7 AI tutor answers your questions as you work through the lesson.

Do I need any experience to start R Academy?

No prior experience is required. R Academy on CoddyKit is structured for beginners through advanced learners, so you can start here or from the beginning and move at your own pace. This is lesson 3 of 3.

How long does the “Dates and Times in R” lesson take?

Most CoddyKit lessons take about 5–10 minutes. Each one is bite-sized and interactive, so you make steady progress and pick up exactly where you left off across the web and the app.

Can I write and run code in this R Academy lesson?

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