>>> df = pd.DataFrame({'year': [2015, 2016], 'month': [2, 3], 'day': [4, 5]}) >>> pd.to_datetime(df) 0 2015-02-04 1 2016-03-05
dtype: datetime64[ns]
>>> pd.to_datetime('13000101', format='%Y%m%d', errors='ignore') datetime.datetime(1300, 1, 1, 0, 0) >>> pd.to_datetime('13000101', format='%Y%m%d', errors='coerce') NaT
s = pd.Series(['3/11/2000', '3/12/2000', '3/13/2000']*1000)
>>> s.head()
0 3/11/2000
1 3/12/2000
2 3/13/2000
3 3/11/2000
4 3/12/2000
dtype: object
>>> %timeit pd.to_datetime(s,infer_datetime_format=True)
100 loops, best of 3: 10.4 ms per loop
>>> %timeit pd.to_datetime(s,infer_datetime_format=False)
1 loop, best of 3: 471 ms per loop