Here you can find the source of parse(String date)
public static Date parse(String date) throws ParseException
//package com.java2s; //License from project: Apache License import java.text.DateFormat; import java.text.ParseException; import java.text.SimpleDateFormat; import java.util.Date; public class Main { public static Date parse(String date) throws ParseException { try {/*from www . ja v a 2s . c om*/ return parseTimestamp(date); } catch (ParseException e) { return parseDate(date); } } public static Date parseTimestamp(String date) throws ParseException { return getTimetampFormat().parse(date); } public static Date parseDate(String date) throws ParseException { return getDateFormat().parse(date); } public static DateFormat getTimetampFormat() { return new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss"); } public static DateFormat getDateFormat() { return new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd"); } }