Java tutorial
//package com.java2s; //License from project: Open Source License import java.text.ParseException; import java.text.SimpleDateFormat; import java.util.Date; import java.util.Locale; import java.util.TimeZone; public class Main { /** * getStringAsDate * * @param dateString a string in date format * @param format the resulting date format * @return a new date in the specified format */ public static Date getStringAsDate(String dateString, String format, String timezone) { SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat(format, Locale.getDefault()); if (timezone == null) { formatter.setTimeZone(TimeZone.getDefault()); } else { formatter.setTimeZone(TimeZone.getTimeZone("UTC")); } Date date = new Date(); try { date = formatter.parse(dateString); } catch (ParseException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } return date; } }