Date & Time API (java.time) — Free Java Tutorial

TL;DR: Learn Date & Time API (java.time) in Java with a free, beginner-friendly tutorial, examples and practice for Indian students on Syllab.in.

Date & Time API (java.time) in Java

Java 8 introduced the java.time package — a modern, immutable, thread-safe date/time API. It replaces the old java.util.Date and Calendar classes which were error-prone.

Key classes: LocalDate (date only, no time), LocalTime (time only), LocalDateTime (date + time), ZonedDateTime (with time zone), Duration (time-based), Period (date-based), Instant (Unix timestamp).

All java.time objects are immutable — operations return new objects. Use DateTimeFormatter for parsing and formatting.

Use LocalDate.now(), LocalTime.now(), LocalDateTime.now() to get current values. Use of() factory methods for specific values.

LocalDate date = LocalDate.now();           // today
LocalDate specific = LocalDate.of(2025, 7, 15);
LocalTime time = LocalTime.of(14, 30, 0);
LocalDateTime dt = LocalDateTime.now();

date.plusDays(7);              // add 7 days
date.minusMonths(1);           // subtract 1 month
date.getDayOfWeek();           // MONDAY, TUESDAY...
date.isLeapYear();             // boolean

Duration.between(start, end).toHours();
Period.between(date1, date2).getDays();

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