Compare Joda-Time DateTime using DateTimeComparator in Java

Tags: Joda Time Joda DateTime Joda DateTimeComparator Comparator

In this Joda-Time tutorial, we learn how to use Joda-Time’s DateTimeComparator class to compare DateTime objects. With different built-in comparators we will learn how to compare DateTime objects with different specified fields such as date, time or date and time.

Add Joda Time library to your Java project

To use Joda Time Java library in the Gradle build project, add the following dependency into the build.gradle file.

compile group: 'joda-time', name: 'joda-time', version: '2.10.9'

To use Joda Time Java library in the Maven build project, add the following dependency into the pom.xml file.

<dependency>
    <groupId>joda-time</groupId>
    <artifactId>joda-time</artifactId>
    <version>2.10.9</version>
</dependency>

To download the Joda Time .jar file you can visit Joda Time releases page at github.com/JodaOrg/joda-time

Compare Date and Time

In the following example Java programs, we use DateTimeComparator.getInstance() static method to get the DateTimeComparator object that allows comparison of the entire date and time value.

CompareDateTimeExample1.java 

import org.joda.time.DateTime;
import org.joda.time.DateTimeComparator;

public class CompareDateTimeExample1 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DateTime dateTime1 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-19T08:30:00.000");
        DateTime dateTime2 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-20T09:00:00.000");

        DateTimeComparator dateTimeComparator = DateTimeComparator.getInstance();
        int compareResult = dateTimeComparator.compare(dateTime1, dateTime2);

        System.out.println("dateTime1: " + dateTime1);
        System.out.println("dateTime2: " + dateTime2);
        System.out.println("Compare Result: " + compareResult);
    }
}
The output is: 
dateTime1: 2021-01-19T08:30:00.000+07:00
dateTime2: 2021-01-20T09:00:00.000+07:00
Compare Result: -1

CompareDateTimeExample2.java 

import org.joda.time.DateTime;
import org.joda.time.DateTimeComparator;

public class CompareDateTimeExample2 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DateTime dateTime1 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-20T09:00:00.000");
        DateTime dateTime2 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-20T09:00:00.000");

        DateTimeComparator dateTimeComparator = DateTimeComparator.getInstance();
        int compareResult = dateTimeComparator.compare(dateTime1, dateTime2);

        System.out.println("dateTime1: " + dateTime1);
        System.out.println("dateTime2: " + dateTime2);
        System.out.println("Compare Result: " + compareResult);
    }
}
The output is: 
dateTime1: 2021-01-20T09:00:00.000+07:00
dateTime2: 2021-01-20T09:00:00.000+07:00
Compare Result: 0

CompareDateTimeExample3.java 

import org.joda.time.DateTime;
import org.joda.time.DateTimeComparator;

public class CompareDateTimeExample3 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DateTime dateTime1 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-21T09:30:00.000");
        DateTime dateTime2 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-20T09:00:00.000");

        DateTimeComparator dateTimeComparator = DateTimeComparator.getInstance();
        int compareResult = dateTimeComparator.compare(dateTime1, dateTime2);

        System.out.println("dateTime1: " + dateTime1);
        System.out.println("dateTime2: " + dateTime2);
        System.out.println("Compare Result: " + compareResult);
    }
}
The output is: 
dateTime1: 2021-01-21T09:30:00.000+07:00
dateTime2: 2021-01-20T09:00:00.000+07:00
Compare Result: 1

Compare Date Only

In the following example Java programs, we use DateTimeComparator.getDateOnlyInstance() static method to get the DateTimeComparator object that allows comparison of the date value only.

CompareDateExample1.java 

import org.joda.time.DateTime;
import org.joda.time.DateTimeComparator;

public class CompareDateExample1 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DateTime dateTime1 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-19T09:00:00.000");
        DateTime dateTime2 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-20T08:00:00.000");

        DateTimeComparator dateOnlyComparator = DateTimeComparator.getDateOnlyInstance();
        int compareResult = dateOnlyComparator.compare(dateTime1, dateTime2);

        System.out.println("dateTime1: " + dateTime1);
        System.out.println("dateTime2: " + dateTime2);
        System.out.println("Compare Result: " + compareResult);
    }
}
The output is: 
dateTime1: 2021-01-19T09:00:00.000+07:00
dateTime2: 2021-01-20T08:00:00.000+07:00
Compare Result: -1

CompareDateExample2.java 

import org.joda.time.DateTime;
import org.joda.time.DateTimeComparator;

public class CompareDateExample2 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DateTime dateTime1 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-20T08:00:00.000");
        DateTime dateTime2 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-20T09:30:00.000");

        DateTimeComparator dateOnlyComparator = DateTimeComparator.getDateOnlyInstance();
        int compareResult = dateOnlyComparator.compare(dateTime1, dateTime2);

        System.out.println("dateTime1: " + dateTime1);
        System.out.println("dateTime2: " + dateTime2);
        System.out.println("Compare Result: " + compareResult);
    }
}
The output is: 
dateTime1: 2021-01-20T08:00:00.000+07:00
dateTime2: 2021-01-20T09:30:00.000+07:00
Compare Result: 0

CompareDateExample3.java 

import org.joda.time.DateTime;
import org.joda.time.DateTimeComparator;

public class CompareDateExample3 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DateTime dateTime1 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-21T08:00:00.000");
        DateTime dateTime2 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-20T09:00:00.000");

        DateTimeComparator dateOnlyComparator = DateTimeComparator.getDateOnlyInstance();
        int compareResult = dateOnlyComparator.compare(dateTime1, dateTime2);

        System.out.println("dateTime1: " + dateTime1);
        System.out.println("dateTime2: " + dateTime2);
        System.out.println("Compare Result: " + compareResult);
    }
}
The output is: 
dateTime1: 2021-01-21T08:00:00.000+07:00
dateTime2: 2021-01-20T09:00:00.000+07:00
Compare Result: 1

Compare Time Only

In the following example Java programs, we use DateTimeComparator.getTimeOnlyInstance() static method to get the DateTimeComparator object that allows comparison of the time value only.

CompareTimeExample1.java 

import org.joda.time.DateTime;
import org.joda.time.DateTimeComparator;

public class CompareTimeExample1 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DateTime dateTime1 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-20T08:00:00.000");
        DateTime dateTime2 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-19T09:00:00.000");

        DateTimeComparator timeOnlyComparator = DateTimeComparator.getTimeOnlyInstance();
        int compareResult = timeOnlyComparator.compare(dateTime1, dateTime2);

        System.out.println("dateTime1: " + dateTime1);
        System.out.println("dateTime2: " + dateTime2);
        System.out.println("Compare Result: " + compareResult);
    }
}
The output is: 
dateTime1: 2021-01-20T08:00:00.000+07:00
dateTime2: 2021-01-19T09:00:00.000+07:00
Compare Result: -1

CompareTimeExample2.java 

import org.joda.time.DateTime;
import org.joda.time.DateTimeComparator;

public class CompareTimeExample2 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DateTime dateTime1 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-18T09:00:00.000");
        DateTime dateTime2 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-19T09:00:00.000");

        DateTimeComparator timeOnlyComparator = DateTimeComparator.getTimeOnlyInstance();
        int compareResult = timeOnlyComparator.compare(dateTime1, dateTime2);

        System.out.println("dateTime1: " + dateTime1);
        System.out.println("dateTime2: " + dateTime2);
        System.out.println("Compare Result: " + compareResult);
    }
}
The output is: 
dateTime1: 2021-01-18T09:00:00.000+07:00
dateTime2: 2021-01-19T09:00:00.000+07:00
Compare Result: 0

CompareTimeExample3.java 

import org.joda.time.DateTime;
import org.joda.time.DateTimeComparator;

public class CompareTimeExample3 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DateTime dateTime1 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-18T09:00:00.000");
        DateTime dateTime2 = DateTime.parse("2021-01-19T08:00:00.000");

        DateTimeComparator timeOnlyComparator = DateTimeComparator.getTimeOnlyInstance();
        int compareResult = timeOnlyComparator.compare(dateTime1, dateTime2);

        System.out.println("dateTime1: " + dateTime1);
        System.out.println("dateTime2: " + dateTime2);
        System.out.println("Compare Result: " + compareResult);
    }
}
The output is: 
dateTime1: 2021-01-18T09:00:00.000+07:00
dateTime2: 2021-01-19T08:00:00.000+07:00
Compare Result: 1

Happy Coding 😊

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