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How To Compare Two Dates In Java 8 And Higher Versions?
<p>Java <strong>compareTo() method of LocalDate</strong> class is used to compare a date with another date.</p>
<p>If dates are instances of LocalDate class, then the comparison will be based on the date. If some dates being compared are in different chronologies, then the chronology is also considered.</p>
<p>This method is specified in two interfaces <strong>java.time.chrono.ChronoLocalDate</strong> and <strong>java.lang.Comparable.</strong></p>
<p>The compareTo() method returns an integer value that can be positive or negative or zero.</p>
<p>In this topic, we will learn <strong>to compare two dates</strong> with examples. The Syntax of the method is given below.</p>
<h2>Syntax</h2>
<pre>
<code class="language-java">public int compareTo(ChronoLocalDate otherdate)
</code></pre>
<p>This method belongs to <strong>Java 8 LocalDate class</strong> which is stored in <strong>java.time</strong> package and method description are given below.</p>
<h3>Parameters:</h3>
<p><strong>otherdate:</strong> Instance of another date to be compared.</p>
<h3>Return Value:</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong>Zero</strong>, if both dates are equal.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>A<strong> negative value</strong>, if one date is less than the other.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>A<strong> positive value</strong>, if one date is greater than the other.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Exception:</h3>
<p><strong>No</strong> Exception</p>
<h3>Version:</h3>
<p>This method is added to <strong>Java 1.8</strong>.</p>
<h2>How to Compare two different Dates in Java</h2>
<p>The below example returns a negative value as a result because date1 is less than date2. See the example here.</p>
<pre>
<code class="language-java">import java.time.LocalDate;
/*
* Example to compare two dates
*/
public class JExercise {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Take a date
LocalDate date1 = LocalDate.parse("2020-08-17");
// Displaying date
System.out.println("First Date is : "+date1);
// Take another date
LocalDate date2 = LocalDate.parse("2020-08-20");
// Displaying date
System.out.println("Second Date is : "+date2);
// Using compareTo() method
int result = date1.compareTo(date2);
System.out.println(result);
}
}</code></pre>
<p><strong>Output:</strong></p>
<p>First Date is : 2020-08-17<br />
Second Date is : 2020-08-20<br />
-3<br />
</p>
<h2>Example: Compare Two Dates in Java</h2>
<p>The below example compares two dates and returns a positive value because date1 is greater than date2. Similarly, it returns 0 when date2 and date3 are compared.</p>
<pre>
<code class="language-java">import java.time.LocalDate;
/*
* Example to compare two dates
*/
public class JExercise {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Take a date
LocalDate date1 = LocalDate.parse("2020-08-22");
// Displaying date
System.out.println("First Date is : "+date1);
// Take another date
LocalDate date2 = LocalDate.parse("2020-08-20");
// Displaying date
System.out.println("Second Date is : "+date2);
// Using compareTo() method
int result = date1.compareTo(date2);
System.out.println(result);
// If both dates are equal
LocalDate date3 = LocalDate.parse("2020-08-20");
result = date2.compareTo(date3);
System.out.println(result);
}
}</code></pre>
<p><strong>Output:</strong></p>
<p>First Date is : 2020-08-22<br />
Second Date is : 2020-08-20<br />
2<br />
0</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Well, in this topic, we have learned To compare two dates by using the <strong>compareTo()</strong> method of <strong>Java 8 LocalDate</strong> class.</p>
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