Here you can find the source of parseDate(String dateString)
public static final java.util.Date parseDate(String dateString) throws java.text.ParseException
//package com.java2s; import java.text.DateFormat; import java.text.ParseException; import java.text.SimpleDateFormat; import java.util.Date; import java.util.Locale; public class Main { public static final java.util.Date parseDate(String dateString) throws java.text.ParseException { DateFormat df = DateFormat.getDateInstance(DateFormat.SHORT); return df.parse(dateString); }// w w w .j a v a 2s . c om /** * @param inputDate * @param default_date_format * @return */ public static final Date parseDate(String inputDate, String dateformat) throws ParseException { DateFormat df = new SimpleDateFormat(dateformat); return df.parse(inputDate); } public static final Date parseDate(String inputDate, String dateformat, Locale locale) throws ParseException { DateFormat df = new SimpleDateFormat(dateformat, locale); return df.parse(inputDate); } }