Java determine if a time is X minutes greater

Question

I know how to determine IF a time stamp is "greater than" "equal to" or "less than" using the date function, but I don't know how to determine HOW MUCH greater than a time is

for instance, how would I tell that 6:15 PM is 15 minutes greater than 6:00 PM

I've got an idea to convert times into milliseconds and compare with the current time in milliseconds, but its a fog of potential ideas right now

insight appreciated

I'd like to know of more efficient ways to tackle this problem before/while I reinvent the wheel — CQM, Jul 07 '11 at 19:49
@fireshadow52 don't forget dividing to get it into minutes :-P — jberg, Jul 07 '11 at 19:54
@RD. Show us some code to see what you are thinking, maybe you are not reinventing the wheel but using it. — Marcelo, Jul 07 '11 at 19:54

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:55

see how-to-convert-milliseconds-to-x-mins-x-seconds-in-java

Then you can do something like this...

final Date a = someDate();
final Date b = anotherDate();
final long millis = b.getTime() - a.getTime();

int minutes = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toMinutes(millis);

Also, take a look at Joda at some point. It's pretty much the de-facto standard for better date and time functions in java. They have some nice convenience methods like Minutes.minutesBetween(date1,date2)

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 07 '11 at 19:54

-1

Just create two date stamps you want and convert into milliseconds and subract them and return the difference.

Date date1 = System.currentMilliSeconds();
Date date2 = System.currentMilliSeconds();
return new Date(date1.getTime() - date2.getTime());

answered Jul 07 '11 at 19:54

Nick

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Java determine if a time is X minutes greater

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