How to compare dates in Java? [duplicate]

How do I compare dates in between in Java?

Example:

date1 is 22-02-2010
date2 is 07-04-2010 today
date3 is 25-12-2010

date3 is always greater than date1 and date2 is always today. How do I verify if today's date is in between date1 and date 3?

Solution 1:

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);