How to parse a string into a Java Date?

Question

How do I parse a string like "Fri Feb 14 09:58:21 EST 2020" into a Date in Java ?

The closest example I can find is :

SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("EEEE, MMM dd, yyyy HH:mm:ss a");
String dateInString = "Friday, Jun 7, 2013 12:10:56 PM";

try {

    Date date = formatter.parse(dateInString);
    System.out.println(date);
    System.out.println(formatter.format(date));

}
catch (ParseException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

But it doesn't have the " EST " part, what's the right way to do it ?

or here https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4216745/java-string-to-date-conversion — Chris, Feb 14 '20 at 15:02
If you are learning how to parse a datetime `String`, then learn the modern way: `java.time` — deHaar, Feb 14 '20 at 15:05
@cricket_007, I'm trying to find the fastest way to the correct answer, I've done date parsing before, just not this one, I can spend hours on it going through the doc's, or do more search, I just don't want to waste too much time on this, that's why I post it here to hope 3 minutes of my time here is worth few hours searching on my own, if you want to know what I've been DOING in the 20 years of Java programming, here are some info : https://nmjava.com/links.html and here : https://gatecybertech.com — Frank, Feb 14 '20 at 15:37
This is not a place for advertisement. Java date parsing is well covered already and you could get the result in a 1mn research or 3mn reading the doc. Anyway, question is closed — jhamon, Feb 14 '20 at 15:38
@jhamon I see you linked to SimpleDateFormat. That class should be avoided in place of java time — OneCricketeer, Feb 14 '20 at 16:10
Fastest way, IMO, would be to take personal notes as you learn and refer back to them over time. Copying answers from others barely helps you remember how to solve the problem the next time — OneCricketeer, Feb 14 '20 at 16:12
I yoo recommend you don’t use `SimpleDateFormat` and `Date`. Those classes are poorly designed and long outdated, the former in particular notoriously troublesome. Instead use `ZonedDateTime` and `DateTimeFormatter`, both from [java.time, the modern Java date and time API](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/datetime/). — Ole V.V., Feb 14 '20 at 17:45

Youcef LAIDANI · Accepted Answer · 2020-02-14T15:15:19.957

4

Your pattern is not correct, it contain many problems :

EEEE replace with EEE
, remove this because your string not have comma
, same thing for the second comma
replace the position of yyyy and put in the end
a remove as it is not used at all, and instead use z to match ETC

If you are using java-time you can parse your date using this pattern EEE MMM dd HH:mm:ss z yyyy :

DateTimeFormatter formatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern(
        "EEE MMM dd HH:mm:ss z yyyy", 
        Locale.US);
ZonedDateTime zdt = ZonedDateTime.parse(str, formatter);

edited Feb 14 '20 at 15:15

answered Feb 14 '20 at 15:10

Youcef LAIDANI

55,661
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This is the modern way... You could mention *EST* to be automatically converted to `-05:00[America/New_York]` when using a `DateTImeFormatter.ISO_ZONED_DATE_TIME` in the `format()` method. – deHaar Feb 14 '20 at 15:14
@deHaar sorry I don't get you – Youcef LAIDANI Feb 14 '20 at 15:17
1

I parsed it like you did and then formatted it with a `DateTimeFormatter.ISO_ZONED_DATE_TIME` which then outputs `2020-02-14T09:58:21-05:00[America/New_York]`, but `EST` isn't only New York time. – deHaar Feb 14 '20 at 15:30

How to parse a string into a Java Date?

1 Answers1