Adding n hours to a date in Java?

Question

Check Calendar class. It has add method (and some others) to allow time manipulation.

Something like this should work:

Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance(); // creates calendar
cal.setTime(new Date());               // sets calendar time/date
cal.add(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 1);      // adds one hour
cal.getTime();                         // returns new date object plus one hour

Check API for more.

If you use Apache Commons / Lang, you can do it in one step using DateUtils.addHours():

Date newDate = DateUtils.addHours(oldDate, 3);

(The original object is unchanged)

To simplify @Christopher's example.

Say you have a constant

public static final long HOUR = 3600*1000; // in milli-seconds.

You can write.

Date newDate = new Date(oldDate.getTime() + 2 * HOUR);

If you use long to store date/time instead of the Date object you can do

long newDate = oldDate + 2 * HOUR;

tl;dr

myJavaUtilDate.toInstant()
              .plusHours( 8 )

Or…

myJavaUtilDate.toInstant()                // Convert from legacy class to modern class, an `Instant`, a point on the timeline in UTC with resolution of nanoseconds.
              .plus(                      // Do the math, adding a span of time to our moment, our `Instant`. 
                  Duration.ofHours( 8 )   // Specify a span of time unattached to the timeline.
               )                          // Returns another `Instant`. Using immutable objects creates a new instance while leaving the original intact.

Using java.time

The java.time framework built into Java 8 and later supplants the old Java.util.Date/.Calendar classes. Those old classes are notoriously troublesome. Avoid them.

Use the toInstant method newly added to java.util.Date to convert from the old type to the new java.time type. An Instant is a moment on the time line in UTC with a resolution of nanoseconds.

Instant instant = myUtilDate.toInstant();

You can add hours to that Instant by passing a TemporalAmount such as Duration.

Duration duration = Duration.ofHours( 8 );
Instant instantHourLater = instant.plus( duration );

To read that date-time, generate a String in standard ISO 8601 format by calling toString.

String output = instantHourLater.toString();

You may want to see that moment through the lens of some region’s wall-clock time. Adjust the Instant into your desired/expected time zone by creating a ZonedDateTime.

ZoneId zoneId = ZoneId.of( "America/Montreal" );
ZonedDateTime zdt = ZonedDateTime.ofInstant( instant , zoneId );

Alternatively, you can call plusHours to add your count of hours. Being zoned means Daylight Saving Time (DST) and other anomalies will be handled on your behalf.

ZonedDateTime later = zdt.plusHours( 8 );

You should avoid using the old date-time classes including java.util.Date and .Calendar. But if you truly need a java.util.Date for interoperability with classes not yet updated for java.time types, convert from ZonedDateTime via Instant. New methods added to the old classes facilitate conversion to/from java.time types.

java.util.Date date = java.util.Date.from( later.toInstant() );

For more discussion on converting, see my Answer to the Question, Convert java.util.Date to what “java.time” type?.

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About java.time

The java.time framework is built into Java 8 and later. These classes supplant the troublesome old legacy date-time classes such as java.util.Date, Calendar, & SimpleDateFormat.

The Joda-Time project, now in maintenance mode, advises migration to the java.time classes.

To learn more, see the Oracle Tutorial. And search Stack Overflow for many examples and explanations. Specification is JSR 310.

You may exchange java.time objects directly with your database. Use a JDBC driver compliant with JDBC 4.2 or later. No need for strings, no need for java.sql.* classes.

Where to obtain the java.time classes?

• Java SE 8, Java SE 9, and later
  • Built-in.
  • Part of the standard Java API with a bundled implementation.
  • Java 9 adds some minor features and fixes.
• Java SE 6 and Java SE 7
  • Much of the java.time functionality is back-ported to Java 6 & 7 in ThreeTen-Backport.
• Android
  • Later versions of Android bundle implementations of the java.time classes.
  • For earlier Android (<26), the ThreeTenABP project adapts ThreeTen-Backport (mentioned above). See How to use ThreeTenABP….

The ThreeTen-Extra project extends java.time with additional classes. This project is a proving ground for possible future additions to java.time. You may find some useful classes here such as Interval, YearWeek, YearQuarter, and more.

With Joda-Time

DateTime dt = new DateTime();
DateTime added = dt.plusHours(6);

Since Java 8:

LocalDateTime.now().minusHours(1);

See LocalDateTime API.

Using the newish java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit class you can do it like this

Date oldDate = new Date(); // oldDate == current time
Date newDate = new Date(oldDate.getTime() + TimeUnit.HOURS.toMillis(2)); // Add 2 hours