How to convert current date into string in Java?

The deep dive // Essential things to mind

The timezone conundrum

Dates and times can be trickier than a box of confounded springs! Enter the dreaded timezones and localization. Neglect these, and you face a date that tells the wrong time:

ZoneId zoneId = ZoneId.of("America/New_York");
LocalDate today = LocalDate.now(zoneId); // New York, New York, so nice they named it twice!


Dressing up your date

Different date formats are as numerous as stars in the sky. Adjust SimpleDateFormat and DateTimeFormatter patterns to fit the occasion:

DateTimeFormatter formatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss");
String dateTimeString = LocalDateTime.now().format(formatter); // It's party time with time!


Thread safety in the wild

Always keep DateTimeFormatter close! Being immutable and thread-safe, it's your best friend in a multi-threaded jungle - leaving SimpleDateFormat in the cold.

Beyond the basics // Advanced stuff

Date-time ballet with databases

Modern applications often throw a direct line to databases for date-time objects. Java 8's date-time API dances with your database gracefully:

// Example of using LocalDateTime with JDBC
LocalDateTime now = LocalDateTime.now();
preparedStatement.setObject(1, now); // Wham, bam, thank you ma'am!


Extra Java-time fun

For date-time enthusiasts, libraries such as ThreeTen-Extra add a new dimension of fun. These are perfect for the most convoluted of date-time arithmetic or non-standard calendar systems.

Just a quickie

For a no-nonsense, quick and dirty string representation of the current date and time, use new Date().toString():

String simpleDateString = new Date().toString();
System.out.println(simpleDateString); // Quicker than Netflix binging!
