Understand the idea

java.time provides types with distinct purposes. LocalDate is a date without a time or time zone. LocalDateTime also has no time zone. Choose Instant or a zoned type when you need a point on the timeline or a location-specific time. Fixed dates make examples reproducible.

Explore the details

Java Dates

Java does not have a built-in Date class, but we can import the java.time package to work with the date and time API. The package includes many date and time classes. For example:

Display Current Date

To display the current date, import the java.time.LocalDate class, and use its now() method:

Display Current Time

To display the current time (hour, minute, second, and nanoseconds), import the java.time.LocalTime class, and use its now() method:

Display Current Date and Time

To display the current date and time, import the java.time.LocalDateTime class, and use its now() method:

Formatting Date and Time

The "T" in the example above is used to separate the date from the time. You can use the DateTimeFormatter class with the ofPattern() method in the same package to format or parse date-time objects. The following example will remove both the "T" and nanoseconds from the date-time:

The ofPattern() method accepts all sorts of values, if you want to display the date and time in a different format. For example:

Common Date Format Patterns

import java.time.LocalDateTime;
import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;

LocalDateTime now = LocalDateTime.now();

// Different format patterns
DateTimeFormatter f1 = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("dd/MM/yyyy");
DateTimeFormatter f2 = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("EEEE, MMMM dd yyyy");
DateTimeFormatter f3 = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("hh:mm a");  // 12-hour with AM/PM
DateTimeFormatter f4 = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm:ss");

System.out.println(now.format(f1));  // 14/04/2025
System.out.println(now.format(f2));  // Monday, April 14 2025
System.out.println(now.format(f3));  // 03:30 PM
System.out.println(now.format(f4));  // 14-04-2025 15:30:05

A complete runnable example

This complete Main.java program focuses on the lesson idea. Reference fragments above may demonstrate individual statements; this example includes the imports, entry point, and supporting types it needs.

import java.time.LocalDate;
public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        LocalDate start = LocalDate.of(2026, 1, 1);
        System.out.println(start.plusDays(7));
        System.out.println(start);
    }
}

2026-01-08
2026-01-01

Change it. Run it. Understand it.

Load this lesson example into the editor. Change one value or statement, predict the result, then press RUN to execute Java.

Make it your own

Your learning checkpoint

• Explain the example without reading the output first.
• Make the change requested in the practice task.
• Describe why the result changed—or why compilation failed.

Ready to move on? Follow the next lesson in course order, or return to the curriculum to review a prerequisite.