Java Date compareTo() Method

The compareTo() method of Java Date class compares two dates and sort them for order. This method is specified by compareTo in interface Comparable<Date>.

Syntax:

Parameters

anotherDate - a date to be compared

Return

It returns the value 0 if the argument Date is equal to this Date.
It returns a value less than 0 if this Date is before the Date argument.
It returns a value greater than 0 if this Date is after the Date argument.

Exception

NullPointerException will be thrown if anotherDate is null.

Example 1

import java.util.Date;

public class JavaDateCompareToExample1 {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Date d=new Date(1997,3,10);
		Date d1=new Date(2018,9,21);
		int comparison=d.compareTo(d1);
		System.out.println("Your comparison value is : "+comparison);
		}
}

Test it Now

Output:

Your comparison value is : -1

Example 2

import java.util.Date;

public class JavaDateCompareToExample2 {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Date d=new Date(1997,3,10);
		Date d1=new Date(1997,3,10);
		int comparison=d.compareTo(d1);
		System.out.println("Your comparison value is : "+comparison);
		}
}

Test it Now

Output:

Your comparision value is : 0

Example 3

import java.util.Date;

public class JavaDateCompareToExample3 {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Date d=new Date(2018,9,21);
		Date d1=new Date(1997,3,10);
		int comparison=d.compareTo(d1);
		System.out.println("Your comparison value is : "+comparison);
		}
}

Test it Now

Output: