The compareTo() method of Java Date class compares two dates and sort them for order.
Syntax:
public int compareTo(Date anotherDate)
Parameters: The function accepts a single parameter anotherDate which specifies the date to be compared .
Return Value: The function gives three return values specified below:
- It returns the value 0 if the argument Date is equal to this Date.
- It returns a value less than 0 if this Date is before the Date argument.
- It returns a value greater than 0 if this Date is after the Date argument.
Exception: The function throws a single exception that is NullPointerException if anotherDate is null.
Program below demonstrates the above mentioned function:
// Java code to demonstrate// compareTo() function of Date class import java.util.Date;import java.util.Calendar;public class GfG { // main method public static void main(String[] args) { // creating a Calendar object Calendar c = Calendar.getInstance(); // set Month // MONTH starts with 0 i.e. ( 0 - Jan) c.set(Calendar.MONTH, 11); // set Date c.set(Calendar.DATE, 05); // set Year c.set(Calendar.YEAR, 1996); // creating a date object with specified time. Date dateOne = c.getTime(); System.out.println("Date 1: " + dateOne); // creating a date of object // storing the current date Date currentDate = new Date(); System.out.println("Date 2: " + currentDate); // compares System.out.println("On Comparison: " + currentDate .compareTo(dateOne)); }} |
Output:
Date 1: Thu Dec 05 08:17:55 UTC 1996 Date 2: Wed Jan 02 08:17:55 UTC 2019 On Comparison: 1
// Java code to demonstrate// compareTo() function of Date class import java.util.Date; public class GfG { // main method public static void main(String[] args) { // creating a date of object // stospecified datent date Date currentDate = new Date(); System.out.println("Date 1: " + currentDate); // specifiedDate is assigned to null. Date specifiedDate = null; System.out.println("Date 2: " + specifiedDate); System.out.println("Passing null as parameter: "); try { // throws NullPointerException System.out.println(currentDate .compareTo(specifiedDate)); } catch (Exception e) { System.out.println("Exception: " + e); } }} |
Output:
Date 1: Wed Jan 02 08:18:02 UTC 2019 Date 2: null Passing null as parameter: Exception: java.lang.NullPointerException
