How to create date object in Java?

Using the Date class

You can create a Date object using the Date() constructor of java.util.Date constructor as shown in the following example. The object created using this constructor represents the current time.

Example

<span class="kwd">import</span><span class="pln"> java</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln">util</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="typ">Date</span><span class="pun">;</span><span class="pln">
</span><span class="kwd">public</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">class</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="typ">CreateDate</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="pun">{</span><span class="pln">
   </span><span class="kwd">public</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">static</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">void</span><span class="pln"> main</span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="typ">String</span><span class="pln"> args</span><span class="pun">[])</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="pun">{</span><span class="pln">      
      </span><span class="typ">Date</span><span class="pln"> date </span><span class="pun">=</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">new</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="typ">Date</span><span class="pun">();</span><span class="pln">
      </span><span class="typ">System</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="kwd">out</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="kwd">print</span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="pln">date</span><span class="pun">);</span><span class="pln">
   </span><span class="pun">}</span><span class="pln">
</span><span class="pun">}</span>

Output

Thu Nov 02 15:43:01 IST 2018

Using the SimpleDateFormat class

Using the SimpleDateFormat class and the parse() method of this you can parse a date string in the required format and create a Date object representing the specified date.

Example

<span class="kwd">import</span><span class="pln"> java</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln">text</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="typ">ParseException</span><span class="pun">;</span><span class="pln">
</span><span class="kwd">import</span><span class="pln"> java</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln">text</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="typ">SimpleDateFormat</span><span class="pun">;</span><span class="pln">
</span><span class="kwd">import</span><span class="pln"> java</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln">util</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="typ">Date</span><span class="pun">;</span><span class="pln">
</span><span class="kwd">public</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">class</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="typ">Test</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="pun">{</span><span class="pln">
   </span><span class="kwd">public</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">static</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">void</span><span class="pln"> main</span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="typ">String</span><span class="pln"> args</span><span class="pun">[])</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">throws</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="typ">ParseException</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="pun">{</span><span class="pln">  
       </span><span class="typ">String</span><span class="pln"> date_string </span><span class="pun">=</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="str">"26-09-1989"</span><span class="pun">;</span><span class="pln">
       </span><span class="com">//Instantiating the SimpleDateFormat class</span><span class="pln">
       </span><span class="typ">SimpleDateFormat</span><span class="pln"> formatter </span><span class="pun">=</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">new</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="typ">SimpleDateFormat</span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="str">"dd-MM-yyyy"</span><span class="pun">);</span><span class="pln">      
       </span><span class="com">//Parsing the given String to Date object</span><span class="pln">
       </span><span class="typ">Date</span><span class="pln"> date </span><span class="pun">=</span><span class="pln"> formatter</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln">parse</span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="pln">date_string</span><span class="pun">);</span><span class="pln">      
       </span><span class="typ">System</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="kwd">out</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln">println</span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="str">"Date value: "</span><span class="pun">+</span><span class="pln">date</span><span class="pun">);</span><span class="pln">
   </span><span class="pun">}</span><span class="pln">
</span><span class="pun">}</span>

Output

Date value: Tue Sep 26 00:00:00 IST 1989

Using the LocalDate class

A LocalDate object is similar to the date object except it represents the date without time zone, you can use this object instead of Date.

• The now() method of this class returns a LocalDate object representing the current time
• The of() method accepts the year, month and day values as parameters an returns the respective LocalDate object.
• The parse() method accepts a date-string as a parameter and returns the LocalDate object5 representing the given date.

Example

<span class="kwd">import</span><span class="pln"> java</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln">time</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="typ">LocalDate</span><span class="pun">;</span><span class="pln">
</span><span class="kwd">public</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">class</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="typ">Test</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="pun">{</span><span class="pln">
   </span><span class="kwd">public</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">static</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">void</span><span class="pln"> main</span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="typ">String</span><span class="pln"> args</span><span class="pun">[])</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="pun">{</span><span class="pln">  
      </span><span class="typ">LocalDate</span><span class="pln"> date1 </span><span class="pun">=</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="typ">LocalDate</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="kwd">of</span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="lit">2014</span><span class="pun">,</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="lit">9</span><span class="pun">,</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="lit">11</span><span class="pun">);</span><span class="pln">
      </span><span class="typ">System</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="kwd">out</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln">println</span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="pln">date1</span><span class="pun">);</span><span class="pln">
      </span><span class="typ">LocalDate</span><span class="pln"> date2 </span><span class="pun">=</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="typ">LocalDate</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln">parse</span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="str">"2007-12-03"</span><span class="pun">);</span><span class="pln">
      </span><span class="typ">System</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="kwd">out</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln">println</span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="pln">date2</span><span class="pun">);</span><span class="pln">
      </span><span class="typ">LocalDate</span><span class="pln"> date3 </span><span class="pun">=</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="typ">LocalDate</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln">now</span><span class="pun">();</span><span class="pln">
      </span><span class="typ">System</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="kwd">out</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln">println</span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="pln">date3</span><span class="pun">);</span><span class="pln">
   </span><span class="pun">}</span><span class="pln">
</span><span class="pun">}</span>

Output

2014-09-11
2007-12-03
2020-11-05