In this example we are going to compare two date objects using java.util.Date class. For comparing dates, we will be using compareTo() method.

Comparing two Dates in Java

     

In  this example we are going to compare two date objects using java.util.Date class. For comparing dates, we will be using compareTo() method. The compareTo() method returns integer value after comparing the dates.

In CompareDate example class we have defined firstDate object and then we used the Thread.Sleep(1000) method to make thread to sleep for 1 second and then it creates new object secondDate after. So that second date is created after one second of creation of firstDate. Now in our example program we can compare these two dates using compareTo() method.

firstDate.compareDate(secondDate);

• firstDate.compareTo(secondDate) will return "0" when both dates are exactly equal
• firstDate.compareTo(secondDate) will return "1" when firstDate is greater than secondDate and
• firstDate.compareTo(secondDate) will return "-1" when firstDate is less than secondDate.

Here is the full example code of CompareDate class as follows:

CompareDate.java

import java.util.Date; public class CompareDate{   public static void main(String[] args) {  Date firstDate = new Date();   try{   Thread.sleep(1000);   }catch(Exception e){   }   Date secondDate = new Date();   System.out.println("FirstDate:="+firstDate);   System.out.println("SecondDate:="+secondDate);   if(firstDate.compareTo(secondDate) > 0)     System.out.println("Second Date is initialized before First Date");   else if(firstDate.compareTo(secondDate) < 0)   System.out.println("Second Date is initialized after First Date");   else   System.out.println("First Date and Second Date are equal");   } }

Output:

C:\DateExample>javac CompareDate.java C:\DateExample>java CompareDate FirstDate:=Wed Oct 08 17:22:05 GMT+05:30 2008 SecondDate:=Wed Oct 08 17:22:06 GMT+05:30 2008 Second Date is initialized after First Date

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