===== Convert string to date =====
==== single date string; without pandas; to datetime.date ====
Use <code>
from datetime import datetime
datetime.strptime(date_str, date_fmt).date()
</code>
Example:
<code>
$ ipython
Python 3.10.6 | packaged by conda-forge | (main, Oct 24 2022, 16:02:16) [MSC v.1916 64 bit (AMD64)]
Type 'copyright', 'credits' or 'license' for more information
IPython 8.4.0 -- An enhanced Interactive Python. Type '?' for help.

In [1]:
from datetime import datetime
s = '24 October 2022'
dt = datetime.strptime(s, '%d %B %Y').date()

In [2]:
print(dt)
2022-10-24

In [3]:
type(dt)
Out[3]:
datetime.date
</code>

Ref:-
  * https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9504356/convert-string-into-date-type-on-python - where I found the answer
  * https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-format-codes - shows the list of all the format codes such as %B, %Y.

==== series of date strings; using pandas ====
use <code>
df[col_name] = pd.to_datetime(df[col_name], format_str)
</code>
For example <code>
$ ipython
Python 3.10.6 | packaged by conda-forge | (main, Oct 24 2022, 16:02:16) [MSC v.1916 64 bit (AMD64)]
Type 'copyright', 'credits' or 'license' for more information
IPython 8.4.0 -- An enhanced Interactive Python. Type '?' for help.

In [1]:
import pandas as pd
data = {'date': ["2022-10-24", "2022-10-08", "2022-09-06", "2022-08-08", "2022-06-06"],
        'tag': ["3.11.0", "3.10.8", "3.10.7", "3.10.6", "3.10.5"]}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)

In [2]:
print(df)
         date     tag
0  2022-10-24  3.11.0
1  2022-10-08  3.10.8
2  2022-09-06  3.10.7
3  2022-08-08  3.10.6
4  2022-06-06  3.10.5

In [3]:
print(df.dtypes)
date    object
tag     object
dtype: object

In [4]:
df['date'] = pd.to_datetime(df['date'], format='%Y-%m-%d')

In [5]:
print(df)
        date     tag
0 2022-10-24  3.11.0
1 2022-10-08  3.10.8
2 2022-09-06  3.10.7
3 2022-08-08  3.10.6
4 2022-06-06  3.10.5

In [6]:
print(df.dtypes)
date    datetime64[ns]
tag             object
dtype: object
</code>

See also: https://pandas.pydata.org/docs/reference/api/pandas.to_datetime.html