Java Date Class
Introduction
The Java Util Date class represents a specific instant in time, with millisecond precision.
Class declaration
Following is the declaration for java.util.Date class −
public class Date extends Object implements Serializable, Cloneable, Comparable<Date>
Class constructors
| Sr.No. | Constructor & Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Date() This constructor allocates a Date object and initializes it so that it represents the time at which it was allocated, measured to the nearest millisecond. |
| 2 | Date(long date) This constructor allocates a Date object and initializes it to represent the specified number of milliseconds since the standard base time known as "the epoch", namely January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 GMT. |
Class methods
| Sr.No. | Method & Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | boolean after(Date when)
This method tests if this date is after the specified date. |
| 2 | boolean before(Date when)
This method tests if this date is before the specified date. |
| 3 | Object clone()
This method return a copy of this object. |
| 4 | int compareTo(Date anotherDate)
This method compares two Dates for ordering. |
| 5 | boolean equals(Object obj)
This method compares two dates for equality. |
| 6 | static Date from(Instant instant)
This method obtains an instance of Date from an Instant object. |
| 7 | long getTime()
This method returns the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 GMT represented by this Date object. |
| 8 | int hashCode()
This method returns a hash code value for this object. |
| 9 | void setTime(long time)
This method sets this Date object to represent a point in time that is time milliseconds after January 1, 1970 00:00:00 GMT. |
| 10 | Instant toInstant()
This method converts this Date object to an Instant. |
| 11 | String toString()
This method converts this Date object to a String of the form. |
Methods inherited
This class inherits methods from the following classes −
- java.util.Object
Creating a Date instance of current date Example
This Java example demonstrates the from() method of Date class to get Date instance of current time.
package com.tutorialspoint;
import java.time.Instant;
// Import the Date package
import java.util.Date;
// Main public class
public class DateDemo {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// create a date of current time
Date date = Date.from(Instant.now());
// print the date instance
System.out.println("Date: " + date.toString());
}
}
Output
Let us compile and run the above program, this will produce the following result −
Date: Mon Apr 01 10:20:08 IST 2024