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title: 'SOFTWARE ENGINEERING AT BLOCKFUSE LABS : WEEK 16'

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# SOFTWARE ENGINEERING AT BLOCKFUSE LABS : WEEK 16
In week 16 we explored more on python modules and packages. You would find out that there are so many already existing modules and packages that could help a developer on their project, depending on the nature of the project however. Apart built-in python modules and packages, other developers develop and share their modules and packages to help other developers.

**WEEK 16 RECAP COURSE/TOPICS:**

**DATETIME MODULE:**

The datetime module supplies classes for manipulating dates and times.

While date and time arithmetic is supported, the focus of the implementation is on efficient attribute extraction for output formatting and manipulation.

Why do we need Datetime module?
1. Helps work with dates and times in real-world applications like scheduling or logging.
2. Allows easy calculation of differences between two dates or times.
3. Supports formatting and parsing of date/time strings for user-friendly outputs.
4. Useful for time-stamping events, files or data entries.
5. Essential for handling time zones, durations and calendar-based operations.

This module is imported by running;

`import datetime`

**PIP:**
Pip is a python package manager for python packages, its meaning is a bit cliche and recursive since pip means "pip installs packages" and the "pip"  the pip means "pip installs packages", if you get what I mean. The python pip is a very powerful tool that lets us access to the Python Package Index; PyPI for short: A repository containing several python packages that can be used by all developers. The PyPI is also referred to as "The Cheese Shop".

The pip is a command line tool which helps us to access the PyPI. On most modern computers that come with python preinstalled, the pip is also preinstalled. In rare cases however, the pip is not installed. To check if pip is installed on your local machines, you can run the following command

`pip --version`

if your local machine has more than one python installed, for instance Python 2 and Python 3; the result that will be displayed will be by default the one of the Python 2. In this case, run the following code to get information on the Python 3 pip

`pip3 --version.`

The pip has several operations that it can carry out. To see a list of all installed packages, run;

`pip list`

To get help tips on different pip instructions, run;

`pip help`

This command will display a list of possible operations that can be carried out using pips and its related commands.

**CONCLUSION:**

The python pip is a very powerful tool and mastering its usage definitely helps ease and makes a developers life easier. The Python package index or universe is also a very powerful repository and you can do more research and also learn how to use it.