How to sleep python script for xx minutes after every hour execution?

I am trying to make a python script that works in a loop mode with iteration through a text file to run for periods of one hour and make 30minute pauses between each hour loop .

After some searching I found this piece of code :

import datetime
import time

delta_hour = 0

while:
    now_hour = datetime.datetime.now().hour

    if delta_hour != now_hour:
        # run your code

    delta_hour = now_hour

    time.sleep(1800) # 1800 seconds sleep

    # add some way to exit the infinite loop

This code has a few issues though :

1. It does not consider one hour periods since the script starts running
2. It does not seem to work continuously for periods over one hour

Considering what I am trying to achieve (running script 1hour before each time it pauses for 30mins) what is the best approach to this ? Cron is not an option here .

For clarification :

1hour run — 30min pause — repeat

Thanks

Answer

The simplest solution I could come up with was the following piece of code, which I added inside my main thread :

start_time = int(time())
... #main thread code
#main thread code end
if int(time() - start_time >= 60 * 60):
    print("pausing time")
    sleep(30 * 60)
    start_time = int(time())

From the moment the script starts this will pause every hour for 30mins and resume afterwards .

Simple yet effective !