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Java 8 Date and Time API

Java added a new Date and Time API in Java 8 version that consists of several classes, interfaces, and enum to handle the date and time.

Before Java 8, There was a java.util.Date class to create and handle date and time that has limitations like Not thread-safe, Poor design, and Difficult time zone handling.

The new Date and Time API is based on the ISO calendar system and all the classes are immutable and thread-safe.

The classes of java.time package represent the principle date-time concepts, including instants, durations, dates, times, time-zones, and periods.

Java Date Time API Classes

The new java.time package includes the various classes and enums that are tabled below.

Class

Description

Clock

A clock providing access to the current instant, date, and time using a time-zone.

Duration

A time-based amount of time, such as '34.5 seconds'.

Instant

An instantaneous point on the time-line.

LocalDate

A date without a time-zone in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as 2007-12-03.

LocalDateTime

A date-time without a time-zone in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as 2007-12-03T10:15:30.

LocalTime

A time without a time-zone in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as 10:15:30.

MonthDay

A month-day in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as --12-03.

OffsetDateTime

A date-time with an offset from UTC/Greenwich in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as 2007-12-03T10:15:30+01:00.

OffsetTime

A time with an offset from UTC/Greenwich in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as 10:15:30+01:00.

Period

A date-based amount of time in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as '2 years, 3 months and 4 days'.

Year

A year in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as 2007.

YearMonth

A year-month in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as 2007-12.

ZonedDateTime

A date-time with a time-zone in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as 2007-12-03T10:15:30+01:00 Europe/Paris.

ZoneId

A time-zone ID, such as Europe/Paris.

ZoneOffset

A time-zone offset from Greenwich/UTC, such as +02:00.

Java 8 Date Time API Enum

The following are the Enum present in java.time package.

Enum Description

DayOfWeek

A day-of-week, such as 'Tuesday'.

Month

A month-of-year, such as 'June'.

Example: LocalDate Class

This class is available in java.time package. It represents a date without a time-zone in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as 2007-12-03.

The LocalDate class is an immutable date-time object that is used to create a locale date. See the below example.

public class STDemo {
	public static void main(String[] args){
		
		LocalDate date = LocalDate.parse("2012-12-10");
		System.out.println(date);	
	}
}


2012-12-10

Example: LocalDateTime Class

This class is used to create a date with time but without a time-zone. It represents a date-time without a time-zone in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as 2010-10-03T10:10:50.

The LocalDateTime class is an immutable date-time object that represents a date-time. We can use it to represent a date with time. For example, the value "2nd October 2007 at 13:45.30.123456789" can be stored in a LocalDateTime.

import java.time.LocalDateTime;

public class STDemo {
	public static void main(String[] args){
		
		LocalDateTime date = LocalDateTime.of(2012, 12, 10, 2, 30);
		System.out.println(date);	
	}
}


2012-12-10T02:30

Example: LocalTime Class

This class is used to create a local time object. It represents a time without a time-zone in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as 11:10:30.

The LocalTime class is an immutable date-time object that represents a time, For example, the value "13:45.30.123456789" can be stored in a LocalTime. See the below example.

import java.time.LocalTime;

public class STDemo {
	public static void main(String[] args){
		
		LocalTime time = LocalTime.of(12, 12,30);
		System.out.println(time);	
	}
}


12:12:30

Example: ZonedDateTime Class

This class is used to create a date-time object with a time-zone. It represents a date-time with a time-zone in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as 2017-10-03T10:10:30+05:30 Asia/Kolkata.

The ZonedDateTime class is an immutable representation of a date-time with a time-zone. This class stores all date and time fields. For example, the value "2nd October 2017 at 15:40.35.123456786 +05:30 in the Asia/Kolkata time-zone" can be stored in a ZonedDateTime.

import java.time.ZoneId;
import java.time.ZonedDateTime;

public class STDemo {
	public static void main(String[] args){
		
		ZonedDateTime time = ZonedDateTime.of(2015, 10, 15, 2, 10, 30, 0, ZoneId.systemDefault());
		System.out.println(time);	
	}
}


2015-10-15T02:10:30+05:30[Asia/Kolkata]

Example: OffSetDateTime Class

This class is used to create a date-time with an offset from UTC/Greenwich in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as 2017-10-03T15:10:30+01:00.

The OffsetDateTime class is an immutable representation of a date-time with an offset. This class stores all date and time fields, as well as the offset from UTC/Greenwich. For example, the value "2nd October 2017 at 15:42.35.123456789 +02:00" can be stored in an OffsetDateTime.

import java.time.OffsetDateTime;
public class STDemo {
	public static void main(String[] args){
		
	    OffsetDateTime date = OffsetDateTime.parse("2017-02-03T12:30:30+01:00");
		System.out.println(date);
	}
}


2017-02-03T12:30:30+01:00

Example: OffsetTime Class

This class is used to store time with an offset from UTC/Greenwich in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as 15:10:35+01:00.

The OffsetTime class is an immutable date-time object that represents a time. This class stores all time fields, as well as a zone offset. For example, the value "15:40.35.123456789+02:00" can be stored in an OffsetTime.

import java.time.OffsetTime;
public class STDemo {
	public static void main(String[] args){
		
	    OffsetTime time = OffsetTime.parse("12:30:30+01:00");
		System.out.println(time);
	}
}


12:30:30+01:00



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