Convert Joda-Time DateTime into String and Vice Versa in Java

In this Joda-Time tutorial, we learn how to convert Joda-Time’s DateTime object into String value and vice versa parse String value into Joda-Time’s DateTime object in Java.

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

Convert DateTime to String in ISO8601 format (yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss.SSSZZ)

DateTimeToStringISO.java

import org.joda.time.DateTime;

public class DateTimeToStringISO {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DateTime dateTime = DateTime.now();

        String dateTimeString = dateTime.toString();

        System.out.println(dateTimeString);
    }
}

The output is:

2021-01-18T21:37:33.515+07:00

Convert DateTime to String in specified format

DateTimeToString.java

import org.joda.time.DateTime;

public class DateTimeToString {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DateTime dateTime = DateTime.now();

        String dateTimeString = dateTime.toString("DD/MM/yyyy");

        System.out.println(dateTimeString);
    }
}

The output is:

18/01/2021

Convert DateTime to String using DateTimeFormatter

DateTimeFormatterExample.java

import org.joda.time.DateTime;
import org.joda.time.format.DateTimeFormat;
import org.joda.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;

public class DateTimeFormatterExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DateTime dateTime = DateTime.now();
        DateTimeFormatter dateTimeFormatter = DateTimeFormat.forPattern("DD/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss");

        String dateTimeString = dateTimeFormatter.print(dateTime);

        System.out.println(dateTimeString);
    }
}

The output is:

18/01/2021 21:38:07

Parse String into DateTime using DateTime.parse()

ParseStringToDateTime.java

import org.joda.time.DateTime;

public class ParseStringToDateTime {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String dateTimeString = "2021-01-18T20:42:10.670+07:00";

        DateTime dateTime = DateTime.parse(dateTimeString);

        System.out.println(dateTime);
    }
}

The output is:

2021-01-18T20:42:10.670+07:00

Parse String into DateTime using DateTime.parse() with DateTimeFormatter

ParseStringWithDateTimeFormatter.java

import org.joda.time.DateTime;
import org.joda.time.format.DateTimeFormat;
import org.joda.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;

public class ParseStringWithDateTimeFormatter {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String dateTimeString = "18/01/2021";
        DateTimeFormatter dateTimeFormatter = DateTimeFormat.forPattern("DD/MM/yyyy");

        DateTime dateTime = DateTime.parse(dateTimeString, dateTimeFormatter);

        System.out.println(dateTime);
    }
}

The output is:

2021-01-18T00:00:00.000+07:00

Parse String into DateTime using DateTimeFormatter.parseDateTime()

ParseDateTimeExample.java

import org.joda.time.DateTime;
import org.joda.time.format.DateTimeFormat;
import org.joda.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;

public class ParseDateTimeExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DateTimeFormatter dateTimeFormatter = DateTimeFormat.forPattern("DD/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss");
        String dateTimeString = "18/01/2021 08:30:00";

        DateTime dateTime = dateTimeFormatter.parseDateTime(dateTimeString);

        System.out.println(dateTime);
    }
}