How to convert Datetime to Unix timestamp in Ballerina

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    import ballerina/time;

    public function main() {
        time:Utc dateTime = time:utcFromString("2018-01-01 00:00:00", "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss");
        int unixTimestamp = time:toUnix(dateTime);
        io:println("Unix Timestamp: ", unixTimestamp);
    }

Output:

Unix Timestamp = 1692835200

Example only. There may be multiple ways to perform this operation.

Code Explanation

In this Ballerina code for converting a date to a Unix timestamp, the time:utcFromString function converts a human-readable date string (2018-01-01 00:00:00) into a time:Utc structure.
The time:toUnix function then converts this Utc structure to a Unix timestamp (an integer representing the number of seconds since the Unix epoch).

Convert Unix timestamp to Date in Ballerina

Other useful Ballerina date functions

Function	Description	Example
`time:currentTime()`	Returns the current UTC time as a `time:Utc` structure.	`time:currentTime()` returns Utc{2024-09-05T14:55:00Z}
`time:utcFromUnix(seconds)`	Converts a Unix timestamp to a `time:Utc` structure.	`time:utcFromUnix(1609459200)` returns Utc{2021-01-01T00:00:00Z}
`time:toUnix(time)`	Converts a `time:Utc` structure to a Unix timestamp.	`time:toUnix(time:currentTime())` returns 1693227296
`time:format(time, format)`	Formats a `time:Utc` structure into a custom string format.	`time:format(time:currentTime(), "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss")` returns 2024-09-05 14:55:00
`time:addDuration(time, duration)`	Adds a duration (e.g., hours, minutes) to a `time:Utc` structure.	`time:addDuration(time:currentTime(), {hours: 1})` adds 1 hour to the current time.

Current Unix Timestamp SECONDS SINCE JAN 01 1970

Current UTC Time

2025-08-20