title: Convert a Date in String Format to a datetime.date
body: <p>I have some strings which come to me in formats like</p>
  
  <p><code>29-Jul-2014</code> or <code>03-Aug-2015</code></p>
  
  <p>What is the easiest way to convert this to a <code>datetime.date</code> object?</p>
  
  <p>I can only think to make a dictionary like <code>d = {'Jul': 7, 'Aug': 8, ...}</code> and then do</p>
  
  <p><code>dt = datetime.date(year, d[month], day)</code></p>
  
  <p>Is there any other easier way and avoid the creation of this dictionary?</p>
  
  <p>Thanks</p>