How to Convert a String to a Date in Java

Описание: Learn how to efficiently convert a timestamp String into a Date object in Java, including handling milliseconds.
---
This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/62968363/ asked by the user 'AndreaNobili' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/1833945/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/62968483/ provided by the user 'Ismail' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/8947430/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

Visit these links for original content and any more details, such as alternate solutions, latest updates/developments on topic, comments, revision history etc. For example, the original title of the Question was: How can I convert a String formatted in this way into a Date using Java?

Also, Content (except music) licensed under CC BY-SA https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/l...
The original Question post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... ) license, and the original Answer post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... ) license.

If anything seems off to you, please feel free to write me at vlogize [AT] gmail [DOT] com.
---
How to Convert a String to a Date in Java: A Simple Guide

Converting a String representation of a date into a Date object in Java can sometimes be a daunting task, especially when you want to ensure all the components of the date, including milliseconds, are accurately captured. In this article, we’ll explore how to handle this conversion with ease, specifically using the SimpleDateFormat class in Java.

Understanding the Date Format

When you're converting a String that represents a timestamp like 2009-10-17 05:45:14.000, it's important to know what each part of the string represents:

yyyy: 4-digit year (2009)

MM: 2-digit month (10 - October)

dd: 2-digit day (17)

hh: 2-digit hour in a 12-hour format (05)

mm: 2-digit minute (45)

ss: 2-digit second (14)

SSS: 3-digit millisecond (000)

This structure allows us to explicitly define how we want to parse the string using the right format.

Step-by-Step Solution

1. Import Required Class

Before you start coding, ensure that you import the SimpleDateFormat and Date classes:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

2. Create a Date Format Pattern

To parse the date from the string, you need to create an instance of SimpleDateFormat with the correct pattern:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Notice that we used HH instead of hh for hours to consider 24-hour format, which is a common format for timestamps.

3. Parse the Date

Now, use the parse() method of the SimpleDateFormat instance to convert your string into a Date object:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

4. Handling Exceptions

Make sure to wrap your parsing code in a try-catch statement to handle potential ParseException, which occurs if the string doesn’t match the specified format.

Complete Example

Here’s how the entire code might look in a Java application:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion

By using the SimpleDateFormat class, you can efficiently convert a timestamp String into a Date object in Java, including capturing millisecond precision. This method is straightforward and widely used for parsing dates, ensuring your application can handle date and time representations robustly.

Now that you understand how to implement this, you can easily adapt the format to suit various timestamp formats as needed.

Happy coding!