Java tutorial
/* Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 PST 2001 is after Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 PST 2000 * */ import java.text.DateFormat; import java.text.SimpleDateFormat; import java.util.Date; public class MainClass { public static void main(String[] a) throws Exception { DateFormat df = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd"); Date d1 = df.parse("2001-01-01"); Date d2 = df.parse("2000-01-01"); String relation; if (d1.equals(d2)) relation = "the same date as"; else if (d1.before(d2)) relation = "before"; else if (d1.after(d2)) relation = "after"; System.out.println(d1 + " is " + relation + ' ' + d2); } }