What is easiest way to compare two dates

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Compare dates in java

I am getting two dates from server in yyyy-MM-dd format. I have to compare between these two dates. I used compareTo() method to compare two dates. what is more easier way to compare two dates assuming my server will always return not null value in yyyy-MM-dd format?

Define the method

void compareTwoDates(String startDate, String endDate){
        switch(startDate.compareTo(endDate)){
            case -1:
                //START DATE IS BIGGER THAN END DATE
                System.out.println(endDate+" IS BIGGER THAN "+startDate);
                break;
            case 0:
                //BOTH DATE ARE SAME
                System.out.println("SAME DATE");
                break;
            case 1:
                //END DATE IS BIGGER
                System.out.println(startDate+" IS BIGGER THAN "+endDate);
                break;
        }
    }

call the method using following way

compareTwoDates("2012-05-06", "2012-04-08");
compareTwoDates("2012-04-09", "2012-04-09");
compareTwoDates("2012-04-09", "2011-05-10");

Before your question gets closed, one more thing: you cannot use `switch` here because according to `compareTo` contract it can return any positive or negative value, not necessarily `1` and `-1`. — Tomasz Nurkiewicz, Apr 09 '12 at 12:01
*"What is easiest way to.."* Hire someone with the relevant experience (is usually the answer to that question). The rest of us need to do research, read tutorials and write up test cases. You know, like ..being a programmer. — Andrew Thompson, Apr 09 '12 at 12:08
@Andrew Thompson, Although I can afford you but i am not going to hire you. — Sunil Kumar Sahoo, Apr 09 '12 at 12:23
Can you elaborate your response "Hire someone with the relevant experience (is usually the answer to that question)." — Sunil Kumar Sahoo, Apr 09 '12 at 12:37

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 09 '12 at 12:01

2

Use methods Date.before() and Date.after()

answered Apr 09 '12 at 12:01

mishadoff

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 09 '12 at 12:02

1

Don't compare String as if they were dates... only pain and misery can come from that approach.

Something like:

    SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd");
    Date d1 = sdf.parse("2012-04-04");
    Date d2 = sdf.parse("2012-04-05");

Will suit your needs, then you can use the Date compareTo methods, that WILL compare dates as they're supposed to be compared, not as String values that have no context of years, months, etc.

answered Apr 09 '12 at 12:02

pcalcao

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String comparison will work just fine, though, if the Strings are always yyyy-MM-dd . – Thilo Apr 09 '12 at 12:09
Might be a bit exagerated but.. "999-01-01".compareTo("2011-02-02") doesn't work. – pcalcao Apr 09 '12 at 12:40

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 09 '12 at 12:15

Check this sample.

       if(date1.after(date2)){
           System.out.println("Date1 is after Date2");
        }
        if(date1.before(date2)){
             System.out.println("Date1 is before Date2");
        }
        if(date1.equals(date2)){
             System.out.println("Date1 is equal Date2");
        }

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 09 '12 at 12:02

0

use java.util.Calendar class- before and after will do the work.

for parse strings use java.text.SimpleDateFormat

answered Apr 09 '12 at 12:02

shem

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What is easiest way to compare two dates

4 Answers4