java Compare two dates

Question

I want to compare two dates and check if the date has expired or not.

Here is the code I used :

SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd hh:ss:ii");
Date date1 = sdf.parse("20012-10-4 10:15:25");
Date date2 = sdf.parse("2013-10-4 10:15:25");

if(date1.equals(date12)){
    System.out.println("Both are equals");
}

I want to check the two dates but without success.

I also tried to check it like that :

if(date1 >= date2){
    System.out.println("Both are not equals");
}

But it's not working either.

Have you read the javadoc? http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/util/Date.html#compareTo%28java.util.Date%29 — JB Nizet, Apr 10 '13 at 12:16
yyyy-MM-dd hh:ss:ii is not valid. http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/text/SimpleDateFormat.html — NickJ, Apr 10 '13 at 12:17
[REFERENCE](http://www.mkyong.com/java/how-to-compare-dates-in-java/) — thar45, Apr 10 '13 at 12:22

score 50 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 10 '13 at 12:20

50

java.util.Date class has before and after method to compare dates.

Date date1 = new Date();
Date date2 = new Date();

if(date1.before(date2)){
    //Do Something
}

if(date1.after(date2)){
    //Do Something else
}

edited Apr 10 '13 at 12:20

JackPoint

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answered Apr 10 '13 at 12:17

prashant

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How to check whether the **date1** is 10 minutes less than **date2**? – tvshajeer Dec 18 '14 at 08:08
1

Hi How to check if Date is Less than equal to, I can check less than using before api? – user1393608 Jan 14 '16 at 06:05

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 10 '13 at 12:25

Try using this Function.It Will help You:-

public class Main {   
public static void main(String args[]) 
 {        
  Date today=new Date();                     
  Date myDate=new Date(today.getYear(),today.getMonth()-1,today.getDay());
  System.out.println("My Date is"+myDate);    
  System.out.println("Today Date is"+today);
  if(today.compareTo(myDate)<0)
     System.out.println("Today Date is Lesser than my Date");
  else if(today.compareTo(myDate)>0)
     System.out.println("Today Date is Greater than my date"); 
  else
     System.out.println("Both Dates are equal");      
  }
}

score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 10 '13 at 12:21

3

Read JavaDocs.

Use method:

 Date.compareTo()

edited Apr 10 '13 at 12:21

Nazik

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answered Apr 10 '13 at 12:15

Andremoniy

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score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 10 '13 at 12:17

2

You should look at compareTo function of Date class.

JavaDoc

answered Apr 10 '13 at 12:17

Himanshu Bhardwaj

4,038
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score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 10 '13 at 12:16

1

You can use:

date1.before(date2);

or:

date1.after(date2);

answered Apr 10 '13 at 12:16

BobTheBuilder

18,858
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score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 10 '13 at 12:17

1

You equals(Object o) comparison is correct.

Yet, you should use after(Date d) and before(Date d) for date comparison.

answered Apr 10 '13 at 12:17

Jean Logeart

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java Compare two dates

6 Answers6

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