It seems that the new <code>java.time</code> API offers everything from <code>java.util.Date</code> and much more. Is there any reason to use <code>java.util.Date</code> when the newer <code>java.time</code> API is there since Java 8? Should <code>java.util.Date</code> and <code>java.util.Calendar</code> be avoided completely?

Short answer: The new API <code>java.time</code> is way better than the old world with <code>java.util.Date</code> and <code>java.util.Calendar</code>. So yes, the new API should be preferred in new code. For a quick overview: Once I had written a comparison of features in table form for various date-time-libraries. There is almost no feature which <code>java.time</code> is missing but exists in the old world: <ul> <li>configurable gregorian/julian cutover</li> <li>printing based on the class <code>FieldPosition</code> (used in Swing-component <code>FormattedTextField</code>)</li> </ul> About deprecation: Although most parts of <code>java.util.Date</code> are deprecated since Java 1.1, the class itself (and <code>java.util.Calendar</code>, too) are not officially deprecated, just declared as de facto legacy. The support of the old classes is still important for the goal of backwards compatibility with legacy code. So Oracle will probably not stop the support at any time in the future. But maybe Oracle will apply more sophisticated deprecation strategies. Future development: It is interesting that the release of Java-8 has not only incorporated a completely new date/time-API (<code>java.time</code>) but also seen some few enhancements to <code>java.util.Calendar</code>, for example Calendar.Builder or SHORT_STANDALONE etc. Well, I can only speculate but this also seems to indicate that Oracle is not willing to stop the support of the old API in the near future.

Are java.util.Date and java.util.Calendar deprecated?

Tags:

java-8

java.util.date

jsr310

It seems that the new java.time API offers everything from java.util.Date and much more.
Is there any reason to use java.util.Date when the newer java.time API is there since Java 8? Should java.util.Date and java.util.Calendar be avoided completely?

595

asked Feb 08 '18 15:02

Ondrej Bozek

1 Answers

Short answer: The new API java.time is way better than the old world with java.util.Date and java.util.Calendar. So yes, the new API should be preferred in new code.

For a quick overview: Once I had written a comparison of features in table form for various date-time-libraries. There is almost no feature which java.time is missing but exists in the old world:

configurable gregorian/julian cutover
printing based on the class FieldPosition (used in Swing-component FormattedTextField)

About deprecation: Although most parts of java.util.Date are deprecated since Java 1.1, the class itself (and java.util.Calendar, too) are not officially deprecated, just declared as de facto legacy. The support of the old classes is still important for the goal of backwards compatibility with legacy code. So Oracle will probably not stop the support at any time in the future. But maybe Oracle will apply more sophisticated deprecation strategies.

Future development: It is interesting that the release of Java-8 has not only incorporated a completely new date/time-API (java.time) but also seen some few enhancements to java.util.Calendar, for example Calendar.Builder or SHORT_STANDALONE etc. Well, I can only speculate but this also seems to indicate that Oracle is not willing to stop the support of the old API in the near future.

137

answered Sep 28 '22 09:09

Meno Hochschild

Related questions
                            
                                Merge Two Streams
                            
                                Why does an empty lambda and constructor with an explicit return cause a compiler error (Java Bug?)
                            
                                Why can I collect a parallel stream to an arbitrarily large array but not a sequential stream?
                            
                                Java 8 Map merge VS compute, essential difference?
                            
                                Passing an instance of Comparable to a method that expects a Comparator
                            
                                Understanding typesafety anomaly with Java generics [duplicate]
                            
                                Java 8 parallel stream and ThreadLocal
                            
                                JavaFX Click through overlaying stackpane
                            
                                Why do I get a BootstrapMethodError when trying to call a super class's protected method using method reference from an inner class?
                            
                                Recursive lambda expressions in Java 8
                            
                                Parsing date and AM/PM using java 8 DateTime API
                            
                                Is there any advantage of calling map after mapToInt, where ever required
                            
                                No suitable method found for ArrayList<String> .toArray(String[]::new) in return statement
                            
                                Extending List<T> in Java 8
                            
                                Split java.util.stream.Stream
                            
                                How can i work around the ClassCastException in java2d (Bug-ID 7172749)
                            
                                Null check in Java 8 Elvis operator?
                            
                                List::contains with comparator
                            
                                Java Lambda Referencing Enclosing Object: Replace with Private Static Class?
                            
                                Java 8 JPA Repository Stream row-by-row in Postgresql

Donate For Us

If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!

Donate Us With