How Can I Format a Java.util.Date in a Custom Format While Maintaining Sortability?

Formatting Java.util.Date in a Custom Format

It is common to encounter scenarios where you need to display a Java.util.Date in a specific format. By utilizing the SimpleDateFormat class, you can control how your date is presented. However, if you require the date to be sorted as a Date, using parse alone may not suffice.

Consider the following example, where parsing a date using SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy") results in an unexpected output format:

SimpleDateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy");
System.out.println(dateFormat.parse("31/05/2011"));

This code will output:

Tue May 31 00:00:00 SGT 2011

To achieve the desired output of "31/05/2011", while maintaining the ability to sort dates, you can utilize the format() method after parsing:

SimpleDateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy");
System.out.println(dateFormat.format(dateFormat.parse("31/05/2011")));

This solution effectively parses the date using the specified format and then formats it again using the same format, resulting in the desired output.

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