How to compare dates in Java? [duplicate]

Date has before and after methods and can be compared to each other as follows:

if(todayDate.after(historyDate) && todayDate.before(futureDate)) {    // In between}

For an inclusive comparison:

if(!historyDate.after(todayDate) && !futureDate.before(todayDate)) {    /* historyDate <= todayDate <= futureDate */ }

You could also give Joda-Time a go, but note that:

Joda-Time is the de facto standard date and time library for Java prior to Java SE 8. Users are now asked to migrate to java.time (JSR-310).

Back-ports are available for Java 6 and 7 as well as Android.

Use compareTo:

date1.compareTo(date2);

Following are most common way of comparing dates (my preference is Approach 1):

Approach 1: Using Date.before(), Date.after() and Date.equals()

if (date1.after(date2)) {    System.out.println("Date1 is after Date2");}if (date1.before(date2)) {    System.out.println("Date1 is before Date2");}if (date1.equals(date2)) {    System.out.println("Date1 is equal Date2");}

Approach 2: Date.compareTo()

if (date1.compareTo(date2) > 0) {    System.out.println("Date1 is after Date2");} else if (date1.compareTo(date2) < 0) {    System.out.println("Date1 is before Date2");} else {    System.out.println("Date1 is equal to Date2");}

Approach 3: Calender.before(), Calender.after() and Calender.equals()

Calendar cal1 = Calendar.getInstance();Calendar cal2 = Calendar.getInstance();cal1.setTime(date1);cal2.setTime(date2);if (cal1.after(cal2)) {    System.out.println("Date1 is after Date2");}if (cal1.before(cal2)) {    System.out.println("Date1 is before Date2");}if (cal1.equals(cal2)) {    System.out.println("Date1 is equal Date2");}