tl;dr
LocalDate.parse(
"19/05/2009" ,
DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern( "dd/MM/uuuu" )
)
Details
The other Answers with java.util.Date
, java.sql.Date
, and SimpleDateFormat
are now outdated.
LocalDate
The modern way to do date-time is work with the java.time classes, specifically LocalDate
. The LocalDate
class represents a date-only value without time-of-day and without time zone.
DateTimeFormatter
To parse, or generate, a String representing a date-time value, use the DateTimeFormatter
class.
DateTimeFormatter f = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern( "dd/MM/uuuu" );
LocalDate ld = LocalDate.parse( "19/05/2009" , f );
Do not conflate a date-time object with a String representing its value. A date-time object has no format, while a String does. A date-time object, such as LocalDate
, can generate a String to represent its internal value, but the date-time object and the String are separate distinct objects.
You can specify any custom format to generate a String. Or let java.time do the work of automatically localizing.
DateTimeFormatter f =
DateTimeFormatter.ofLocalizedDate( FormatStyle.FULL )
.withLocale( Locale.CANADA_FRENCH ) ;
String output = ld.format( f );
Dump to console.
System.out.println( "ld: " + ld + " | output: " + output );
ld: 2009-05-19 | output: mardi 19 mai 2009
See in action in IdeOne.com.
About java.time
The java.time framework is built into Java 8 and later. These classes supplant the troublesome old legacy date-time classes such as java.util.Date
, Calendar
, & SimpleDateFormat
.
The Joda-Time project, now in maintenance mode, advises migration to the java.time classes.
To learn more, see the Oracle Tutorial. And search Stack Overflow for many examples and explanations. Specification is JSR 310.
You may exchange java.time objects directly with your database. Use a JDBC driver compliant with JDBC 4.2 or later. No need for strings, no need for java.sql.*
classes.
Where to obtain the java.time classes?
The ThreeTen-Extra project extends java.time with additional classes. This project is a proving ground for possible future additions to java.time. You may find some useful classes here such as Interval
, YearWeek
, YearQuarter
, and more.