Date (Java 2 Platform SE v1.4.1_"07")

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## java.util
Class Date

    java.lang.Object
      |
      +--java.util.Date

All Implemented Interfaces:
  Cloneable, Comparable, Serializable

Direct Known Subclasses:
  Date, Time, Timestamp

public class Date
extends Object
implements Serializable, Cloneable, Comparable

The class `Date` represents a specific instant in time, with millisecond precision.

Prior to JDK 1.1, the class `Date` had two additional functions. It allowed the interpretation of dates as year, month, day, hour, minute, and second values. It also allowed the formatting and parsing of date strings. Unfortunately, the API for these functions was not amenable to internationalization. As of JDK 1.1, the `Calendar` class should be used to convert between dates and time fields and the `DateFormat` class should be used to format and parse date strings. The corresponding methods in `Date` are deprecated.

Although the `Date` class is intended to reflect coordinated universal time (UTC), it may not do so exactly, depending on the host environment of the Java Virtual Machine. Nearly all modern operating systems assume that 1 day = 24 × 60 × 60 = 86400 seconds in all cases. In UTC, however, about once every year or two there is an extra second, called a "leap second." The leap second is always added as the last second of the day, and always on December 31 or June 30. For example, the last minute of the year 1995 was 61 seconds long, thanks to an added leap second. Most computer clocks are not accurate enough to be able to reflect the leap-second distinction.

Some computer standards are defined in terms of Greenwich mean time (GMT), which is equivalent to universal time (UT). GMT is the "civil" name for the standard; UT is the "scientific" name for the same standard. The distinction between UTC and UT is that UTC is based on an atomic clock and UT is based on astronomical observations, which for all practical purposes is an invisibly fine hair to split. Because the earth's rotation is not uniform (it slows down and speeds up in complicated ways), UT does not always flow uniformly. Leap seconds are introduced as needed into UTC so as to keep UTC within 0.9 seconds of UT1, which is a version of UT with certain corrections applied. There are other time and date systems as well; for example, the time scale used by the satellite-based global positioning system (GPS) is synchronized to UTC but is not adjusted for leap seconds. An interesting source of further information is the U.S. Naval Observatory, particularly the Directorate of Time at:

>          http://tycho.usno.navy.mil

and their definitions of "Systems of Time" at:

>          http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/systime.html

In all methods of class `Date` that accept or return year, month, date, hours, minutes, and seconds values, the following representations are used:

- A year y is represented by the integer y `- 1900`.
- A month is represented by an integer from 0 to 11; 0 is January, 1 is February, and so forth; thus 11 is December.
- A date (day of month) is represented by an integer from 1 to 31 in the usual manner.
- An hour is represented by an integer from 0 to 23. Thus, the hour from midnight to 1 a.m. is hour 0, and the hour from noon to 1 p.m. is hour 12.
- A minute is represented by an integer from 0 to 59 in the usual manner.
- A second is represented by an integer from 0 to 61; the values 60 and 61 occur only for leap seconds and even then only in Java implementations that actually track leap seconds correctly. Because of the manner in which leap seconds are currently introduced, it is extremely unlikely that two leap seconds will occur in the same minute, but this specification follows the date and time conventions for ISO C.

In all cases, arguments given to methods for these purposes need not fall within the indicated ranges; for example, a date may be specified as January 32 and is interpreted as meaning February 1.

Since:
  JDK1.0
See Also:
  `DateFormat`, `Calendar`, `TimeZone`, Serialized Form

Constructor Summary
`Date()` Allocates a `Date` object and initializes it so that it represents the time at which it was allocated, measured to the nearest millisecond.
`Date(int year, int month, int date)` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(year + 1900, month, date)` or `GregorianCalendar(year + 1900, month, date)`.
`Date(int year, int month, int date, int hrs, int min)` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(year + 1900, month, date, hrs, min)` or `GregorianCalendar(year + 1900, month, date, hrs, min)`.
`Date(int year, int month, int date, int hrs, int min, int sec)` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(year + 1900, month, date, hrs, min, sec)` or `GregorianCalendar(year + 1900, month, date, hrs, min, sec)`.
`Date(long date)` Allocates a `Date` object and initializes it to represent the specified number of milliseconds since the standard base time known as "the epoch", namely January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 GMT.
`Date(String s)` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `DateFormat.parse(String s)`.

Method Summary
`boolean` | `after(Date when)` Tests if this date is after the specified date.
`boolean` | `before(Date when)` Tests if this date is before the specified date.
`Object` | `clone()` Return a copy of this object.
`int` | `compareTo(Date anotherDate)` Compares two Dates for ordering.
`int` | `compareTo(Object o)` Compares this Date to another Object.
`boolean` | `equals(Object obj)` Compares two dates for equality.
`int` | `getDate()` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH)`.
`int` | `getDay()` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK)`.
`int` | `getHours()` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.get(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY)`.
`int` | `getMinutes()` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.get(Calendar.MINUTE)`.
`int` | `getMonth()` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.get(Calendar.MONTH)`.
`int` | `getSeconds()` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.get(Calendar.SECOND)`.
`long` | `getTime()` Returns the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 GMT represented by this `Date` object.
`int` | `getTimezoneOffset()` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.get(Calendar.ZONE_OFFSET) + Calendar.get(Calendar.DST_OFFSET)`.
`int` | `getYear()` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.get(Calendar.YEAR) - 1900`.
`int` | `hashCode()` Returns a hash code value for this object.
`static long` | `parse(String s)` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `DateFormat.parse(String s)`.
`void` | `setDate(int date)` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, int date)`.
`void` | `setHours(int hours)` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, int hours)`.
`void` | `setMinutes(int minutes)` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(Calendar.MINUTE, int minutes)`.
`void` | `setMonth(int month)` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(Calendar.MONTH, int month)`.
`void` | `setSeconds(int seconds)` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(Calendar.SECOND, int seconds)`.
`void` | `setTime(long time)` Sets this `Date` object to represent a point in time that is `time` milliseconds after January 1, 1970 00:00:00 GMT.
`void` | `setYear(int year)` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(Calendar.YEAR, year + 1900)`.
`String` | `toGMTString()` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `DateFormat.format(Date date)`, using a GMT `TimeZone`.
`String` | `toLocaleString()` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `DateFormat.format(Date date)`.
`String` | `toString()` Converts this `Date` object to a `String` of the form:
`static long` | `UTC(int year, int month, int date, int hrs, int min, int sec)` Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(year + 1900, month, date, hrs, min, sec)` or `GregorianCalendar(year + 1900, month, date, hrs, min, sec)`, using a UTC `TimeZone`, followed by `Calendar.getTime().getTime()`.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
`finalize, getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait`

Constructor Detail

### Date

    public Date()

  Allocates a `Date` object and initializes it so that it represents the time at which it was allocated, measured to the nearest millisecond.

See Also:
  `System.currentTimeMillis()`

### Date

    public Date(long date)

  Allocates a `Date` object and initializes it to represent the specified number of milliseconds since the standard base time known as "the epoch", namely January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 GMT.

Parameters:
  `date` - the milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 GMT.
See Also:
  `System.currentTimeMillis()`

### Date

    public Date(int year,
                int month,
                int date)

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(year + 1900, month, date)` or `GregorianCalendar(year + 1900, month, date)`.

  Allocates a `Date` object and initializes it so that it represents midnight, local time, at the beginning of the day specified by the `year`, `month`, and `date` arguments.

Parameters:
  `year` - the year minus 1900.
  `month` - the month between 0-11.
  `date` - the day of the month between 1-31.
See Also:
  `Calendar`

### Date

    public Date(int year,
                int month,
                int date,
                int hrs,
                int min)

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(year + 1900, month, date, hrs, min)` or `GregorianCalendar(year + 1900, month, date, hrs, min)`.

  Allocates a `Date` object and initializes it so that it represents the instant at the start of the minute specified by the `year`, `month`, `date`, `hrs`, and `min` arguments, in the local time zone.

Parameters:
  `year` - the year minus 1900.
  `month` - the month between 0-11.
  `date` - the day of the month between 1-31.
  `hrs` - the hours between 0-23.
  `min` - the minutes between 0-59.
See Also:
  `Calendar`

### Date

    public Date(int year,
                int month,
                int date,
                int hrs,
                int min,
                int sec)

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(year + 1900, month, date, hrs, min, sec)` or `GregorianCalendar(year + 1900, month, date, hrs, min, sec)`.

  Allocates a `Date` object and initializes it so that it represents the instant at the start of the second specified by the `year`, `month`, `date`, `hrs`, `min`, and `sec` arguments, in the local time zone.

Parameters:
  `year` - the year minus 1900.
  `month` - the month between 0-11.
  `date` - the day of the month between 1-31.
  `hrs` - the hours between 0-23.
  `min` - the minutes between 0-59.
  `sec` - the seconds between 0-59.
See Also:
  `Calendar`

### Date

    public Date(String s)

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `DateFormat.parse(String s)`.

  Allocates a `Date` object and initializes it so that it represents the date and time indicated by the string `s`, which is interpreted as if by the `parse(java.lang.String)` method.

Parameters:
  `s` - a string representation of the date.
See Also:
  `DateFormat`, `parse(java.lang.String)`

Method Detail

### clone

    public Object clone()

  Return a copy of this object.

  Overrides:
    `clone` in class `Object`
  Returns:
    a clone of this instance.
  See Also:
    `Cloneable`

### UTC

    public static long UTC(int year,
                           int month,
                           int date,
                           int hrs,
                           int min,
                           int sec)

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(year + 1900, month, date, hrs, min, sec)` or `GregorianCalendar(year + 1900, month, date, hrs, min, sec)`, using a UTC `TimeZone`, followed by `Calendar.getTime().getTime()`.

  Determines the date and time based on the arguments. The arguments are interpreted as a year, month, day of the month, hour of the day, minute within the hour, and second within the minute, exactly as for the `Date` constructor with six arguments, except that the arguments are interpreted relative to UTC rather than to the local time zone. The time indicated is returned represented as the distance, measured in milliseconds, of that time from the epoch (00:00:00 GMT on January 1, 1970).

  Parameters:
    `year` - the year minus 1900.
    `month` - the month between 0-11.
    `date` - the day of the month between 1-31.
    `hrs` - the hours between 0-23.
    `min` - the minutes between 0-59.
    `sec` - the seconds between 0-59.
  Returns:
    the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 GMT for the date and time specified by the arguments.
  See Also:
    `Calendar`

### parse

    public static long parse(String s)

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `DateFormat.parse(String s)`.

  Attempts to interpret the string `s` as a representation of a date and time. If the attempt is successful, the time indicated is returned represented as the distance, measured in milliseconds, of that time from the epoch (00:00:00 GMT on January 1, 1970). If the attempt fails, an `IllegalArgumentException` is thrown.

  It accepts many syntaxes; in particular, it recognizes the IETF standard date syntax: "Sat, 12 Aug 1995 13:30:00 GMT". It also understands the continental U.S. time-zone abbreviations, but for general use, a time-zone offset should be used: "Sat, 12 Aug 1995 13:30:00 GMT+0430" (4 hours, 30 minutes west of the Greenwich meridian). If no time zone is specified, the local time zone is assumed. GMT and UTC are considered equivalent.

  The string `s` is processed from left to right, looking for data of interest. Any material in `s` that is within the ASCII parenthesis characters `(` and `)` is ignored. Parentheses may be nested. Otherwise, the only characters permitted within `s` are these ASCII characters:

  >      abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
  >      ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
  >      0123456789,+-:/

  and whitespace characters.

  A consecutive sequence of decimal digits is treated as a decimal number:

  - If a number is preceded by `+` or `-` and a year has already been recognized, then the number is a time-zone offset. If the number is less than 24, it is an offset measured in hours. Otherwise, it is regarded as an offset in minutes, expressed in 24-hour time format without punctuation. A preceding `-` means a westward offset. Time zone offsets are always relative to UTC (Greenwich). Thus, for example, `-5` occurring in the string would mean "five hours west of Greenwich" and `+0430` would mean "four hours and thirty minutes east of Greenwich." It is permitted for the string to specify `GMT`, `UT`, or `UTC` redundantly-for example, `GMT-5` or `utc+0430`.
  - The number is regarded as a year number if one of the following conditions is true:
    - The number is equal to or greater than 70 and followed by a space, comma, slash, or end of string
    - The number is less than 70, and both a month and a day of the month have already been recognized
    If the recognized year number is less than 100, it is interpreted as an abbreviated year relative to a century of which dates are within 80 years before and 19 years after the time when the Date class is initialized. After adjusting the year number, 1900 is subtracted from it. For example, if the current year is 1999 then years in the range 19 to 99 are assumed to mean 1919 to 1999, while years from 0 to 18 are assumed to mean 2000 to 2018. Note that this is slightly different from the interpretation of years less than 100 that is used in `SimpleDateFormat`.
  - If the number is followed by a colon, it is regarded as an hour, unless an hour has already been recognized, in which case it is regarded as a minute.
  - If the number is followed by a slash, it is regarded as a month (it is decreased by 1 to produce a number in the range `0` to `11`), unless a month has already been recognized, in which case it is regarded as a day of the month.
  - If the number is followed by whitespace, a comma, a hyphen, or end of string, then if an hour has been recognized but not a minute, it is regarded as a minute; otherwise, if a minute has been recognized but not a second, it is regarded as a second; otherwise, it is regarded as a day of the month.

  A consecutive sequence of letters is regarded as a word and treated as follows:

  - A word that matches `AM`, ignoring case, is ignored (but the parse fails if an hour has not been recognized or is less than `1` or greater than `12`).
  - A word that matches `PM`, ignoring case, adds `12` to the hour (but the parse fails if an hour has not been recognized or is less than `1` or greater than `12`).
  - Any word that matches any prefix of `SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY`, or `SATURDAY`, ignoring case, is ignored. For example, `sat, Friday, TUE`, and `Thurs` are ignored.
  - Otherwise, any word that matches any prefix of `JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH, APRIL, MAY, JUNE, JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, NOVEMBER`, or `DECEMBER`, ignoring case, and considering them in the order given here, is recognized as specifying a month and is converted to a number (`0` to `11`). For example, `aug, Sept, april`, and `NOV` are recognized as months. So is `Ma`, which is recognized as `MARCH`, not `MAY`.
  - Any word that matches `GMT, UT`, or `UTC`, ignoring case, is treated as referring to UTC.
  - Any word that matches `EST, CST, MST`, or `PST`, ignoring case, is recognized as referring to the time zone in North America that is five, six, seven, or eight hours west of Greenwich, respectively. Any word that matches `EDT, CDT, MDT`, or `PDT`, ignoring case, is recognized as referring to the same time zone, respectively, during daylight saving time.

  Once the entire string s has been scanned, it is converted to a time result in one of two ways. If a time zone or time-zone offset has been recognized, then the year, month, day of month, hour, minute, and second are interpreted in UTC and then the time-zone offset is applied. Otherwise, the year, month, day of month, hour, minute, and second are interpreted in the local time zone.

  Parameters:
    `s` - a string to be parsed as a date.
  Returns:
    the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 GMT represented by the string argument.
  See Also:
    `DateFormat`

### getYear

    public int getYear()

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.get(Calendar.YEAR) - 1900`.

  Returns a value that is the result of subtracting 1900 from the year that contains or begins with the instant in time represented by this `Date` object, as interpreted in the local time zone.

  Returns:
    the year represented by this date, minus 1900.
  See Also:
    `Calendar`

### setYear

    public void setYear(int year)

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(Calendar.YEAR, year + 1900)`.

  Sets the year of this `Date` object to be the specified value plus 1900. This `Date` object is modified so that it represents a point in time within the specified year, with the month, date, hour, minute, and second the same as before, as interpreted in the local time zone. (Of course, if the date was February 29, for example, and the year is set to a non-leap year, then the new date will be treated as if it were on March 1.)

  Parameters:
    `year` - the year value.
  See Also:
    `Calendar`

### getMonth

    public int getMonth()

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.get(Calendar.MONTH)`.

  Returns a number representing the month that contains or begins with the instant in time represented by this `Date` object. The value returned is between `0` and `11`, with the value `0` representing January.

  Returns:
    the month represented by this date.
  See Also:
    `Calendar`

### setMonth

    public void setMonth(int month)

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(Calendar.MONTH, int month)`.

  Sets the month of this date to the specified value. This `Date` object is modified so that it represents a point in time within the specified month, with the year, date, hour, minute, and second the same as before, as interpreted in the local time zone. If the date was October 31, for example, and the month is set to June, then the new date will be treated as if it were on July 1, because June has only 30 days.

  Parameters:
    `month` - the month value between 0-11.
  See Also:
    `Calendar`

### getDate

    public int getDate()

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH)`.

  Returns the day of the month represented by this `Date` object. The value returned is between `1` and `31` representing the day of the month that contains or begins with the instant in time represented by this `Date` object, as interpreted in the local time zone.

  Returns:
    the day of the month represented by this date.
  See Also:
    `Calendar`

### setDate

    public void setDate(int date)

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, int date)`.

  Sets the day of the month of this `Date` object to the specified value. This `Date` object is modified so that it represents a point in time within the specified day of the month, with the year, month, hour, minute, and second the same as before, as interpreted in the local time zone. If the date was April 30, for example, and the date is set to 31, then it will be treated as if it were on May 1, because April has only 30 days.

  Parameters:
    `date` - the day of the month value between 1-31.
  See Also:
    `Calendar`

### getDay

    public int getDay()

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK)`.

  Returns the day of the week represented by this date. The returned value (`0` = Sunday, `1` = Monday, `2` = Tuesday, `3` = Wednesday, `4` = Thursday, `5` = Friday, `6` = Saturday) represents the day of the week that contains or begins with the instant in time represented by this `Date` object, as interpreted in the local time zone.

  Returns:
    the day of the week represented by this date.
  See Also:
    `Calendar`

### getHours

    public int getHours()

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.get(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY)`.

  Returns the hour represented by this `Date` object. The returned value is a number (`0` through `23`) representing the hour within the day that contains or begins with the instant in time represented by this `Date` object, as interpreted in the local time zone.

  Returns:
    the hour represented by this date.
  See Also:
    `Calendar`

### setHours

    public void setHours(int hours)

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, int hours)`.

  Sets the hour of this `Date` object to the specified value. This `Date` object is modified so that it represents a point in time within the specified hour of the day, with the year, month, date, minute, and second the same as before, as interpreted in the local time zone.

  Parameters:
    `hours` - the hour value.
  See Also:
    `Calendar`

### getMinutes

    public int getMinutes()

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.get(Calendar.MINUTE)`.

  Returns the number of minutes past the hour represented by this date, as interpreted in the local time zone. The value returned is between `0` and `59`.

  Returns:
    the number of minutes past the hour represented by this date.
  See Also:
    `Calendar`

### setMinutes

    public void setMinutes(int minutes)

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(Calendar.MINUTE, int minutes)`.

  Sets the minutes of this `Date` object to the specified value. This `Date` object is modified so that it represents a point in time within the specified minute of the hour, with the year, month, date, hour, and second the same as before, as interpreted in the local time zone.

  Parameters:
    `minutes` - the value of the minutes.
  See Also:
    `Calendar`

### getSeconds

    public int getSeconds()

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.get(Calendar.SECOND)`.

  Returns the number of seconds past the minute represented by this date. The value returned is between `0` and `61`. The values `60` and `61` can only occur on those Java Virtual Machines that take leap seconds into account.

  Returns:
    the number of seconds past the minute represented by this date.
  See Also:
    `Calendar`

### setSeconds

    public void setSeconds(int seconds)

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.set(Calendar.SECOND, int seconds)`.

  Sets the seconds of this `Date` to the specified value. This `Date` object is modified so that it represents a point in time within the specified second of the minute, with the year, month, date, hour, and minute the same as before, as interpreted in the local time zone.

  Parameters:
    `seconds` - the seconds value.
  See Also:
    `Calendar`

### getTime

    public long getTime()

  Returns the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 GMT represented by this `Date` object.

  Returns:
    the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 GMT represented by this date.

### setTime

    public void setTime(long time)

  Sets this `Date` object to represent a point in time that is `time` milliseconds after January 1, 1970 00:00:00 GMT.

  Parameters:
    `time` - the number of milliseconds.

### before

    public boolean before(Date when)

  Tests if this date is before the specified date.

  Parameters:
    `when` - a date.
  Returns:
    `true` if and only if the instant of time represented by this `Date` object is strictly earlier than the instant represented by `when`; `false` otherwise.

### after

    public boolean after(Date when)

  Tests if this date is after the specified date.

  Parameters:
    `when` - a date.
  Returns:
    `true` if and only if the instant represented by this `Date` object is strictly later than the instant represented by `when`; `false` otherwise.

### equals

    public boolean equals(Object obj)

  Compares two dates for equality. The result is `true` if and only if the argument is not `null` and is a `Date` object that represents the same point in time, to the millisecond, as this object.

  Thus, two `Date` objects are equal if and only if the `getTime` method returns the same `long` value for both.

  Overrides:
    `equals` in class `Object`
  Parameters:
    `obj` - the object to compare with.
  Returns:
    `true` if the objects are the same; `false` otherwise.
  See Also:
    `getTime()`

### compareTo

    public int compareTo(Date anotherDate)

  Compares two Dates for ordering.

  Parameters:
    `anotherDate` - the `Date` to be compared.
  Returns:
    the value `0` if the argument Date is equal to this Date; a value less than `0` if this Date is before the Date argument; and a value greater than `0` if this Date is after the Date argument.
  Since:
    1.2

### compareTo

    public int compareTo(Object o)

  Compares this Date to another Object. If the Object is a Date, this function behaves like `compareTo(Date)`. Otherwise, it throws a `ClassCastException` (as Dates are comparable only to other Dates).

  Specified by:
    `compareTo` in interface `Comparable`
  Parameters:
    `o` - the `Object` to be compared.
  Returns:
    the value `0` if the argument is a Date equal to this Date; a value less than `0` if the argument is a Date after this Date; and a value greater than `0` if the argument is a Date before this Date.
  Throws:
    `ClassCastException` - if the argument is not a `Date`.
  Since:
    1.2
  See Also:
    `Comparable`

### hashCode

    public int hashCode()

  Returns a hash code value for this object. The result is the exclusive OR of the two halves of the primitive `long` value returned by the `getTime()` method. That is, the hash code is the value of the expression:

  >      (int)(this.getTime()^(this.getTime() >>> 32))

  Overrides:
    `hashCode` in class `Object`
  Returns:
    a hash code value for this object.
  See Also:
    `Object.equals(java.lang.Object)`, `Hashtable`

### toString

    public String toString()

  Converts this `Date` object to a `String` of the form:

  >      dow mon dd hh:mm:ss zzz yyyy

  where:
  - `dow` is the day of the week (`Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat`).
  - `mon` is the month (`Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec`).
  - `dd` is the day of the month (`01` through `31`), as two decimal digits.
  - `hh` is the hour of the day (`00` through `23`), as two decimal digits.
  - `mm` is the minute within the hour (`00` through `59`), as two decimal digits.
  - `ss` is the second within the minute (`00` through `61`, as two decimal digits.
  - `zzz` is the time zone (and may reflect daylight savings time). Standard time zone abbreviations include those recognized by the method `parse`. If time zone information is not available, then `zzz` is empty - that is, it consists of no characters at all.
  - `yyyy` is the year, as four decimal digits.

  Overrides:
    `toString` in class `Object`
  Returns:
    a string representation of this date.
  See Also:
    `toLocaleString()`, `toGMTString()`

### toLocaleString

    public String toLocaleString()

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `DateFormat.format(Date date)`.

  Creates a string representation of this `Date` object in an implementation-dependent form. The intent is that the form should be familiar to the user of the Java application, wherever it may happen to be running. The intent is comparable to that of the "`%c`" format supported by the `strftime()` function of ISO C.

  Returns:
    a string representation of this date, using the locale conventions.
  See Also:
    `DateFormat`, `toString()`, `toGMTString()`

### toGMTString

    public String toGMTString()

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `DateFormat.format(Date date)`, using a GMT `TimeZone`.

  Creates a string representation of this `Date` object of the form: d mon yyyy hh:mm:ss GMT where:
  - d is the day of the month (`1` through `31`), as one or two decimal digits.
  - mon is the month (`Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec`).
  - yyyy is the year, as four decimal digits.
  - hh is the hour of the day (`00` through `23`), as two decimal digits.
  - mm is the minute within the hour (`00` through `59`), as two decimal digits.
  - ss is the second within the minute (`00` through `61`), as two decimal digits.
  - GMT is exactly the ASCII letters "`GMT`" to indicate Greenwich Mean Time.

  The result does not depend on the local time zone.

  Returns:
    a string representation of this date, using the Internet GMT conventions.
  See Also:
    `DateFormat`, `toString()`, `toLocaleString()`

### getTimezoneOffset

    public int getTimezoneOffset()

  Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by `Calendar.get(Calendar.ZONE_OFFSET) + Calendar.get(Calendar.DST_OFFSET)`.

  Returns the offset, measured in minutes, for the local time zone relative to UTC that is appropriate for the time represented by this `Date` object.

  For example, in Massachusetts, five time zones west of Greenwich:

  >      new Date(96, 1, 14).getTimezoneOffset() returns 300

  because on February 14, 1996, standard time (Eastern Standard Time) is in use, which is offset five hours from UTC; but:

  >      new Date(96, 5, 1).getTimezoneOffset() returns 240

  because on May 1, 1996, daylight savings time (Eastern Daylight Time) is in use, which is offset only four hours from UTC.

  This method produces the same result as if it computed:

  >      (this.getTime() - UTC(this.getYear(),
  >                            this.getMonth(),
  >                            this.getDate(),
  >                            this.getHours(),
  >                            this.getMinutes(),
  >                            this.getSeconds())) / (60 * 1000)

  Returns:
    the time-zone offset, in minutes, for the current locale.
  See Also:
    `Calendar`, `TimeZone`

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