Getting current datetime using Calendar.getInstance() vs new GregorianCalendar()

Question

What might be the difference between getting datetime using

Calendar.getInstance()

vs

new GregorianCalendar()

?

Answer 1

Looking in the source of Calendar.getInstance():

private static Calendar createCalendar(TimeZone zone, Locale aLocale) {     // If the specified locale is a Thai locale, returns a BuddhistCalendar     // instance.     if ("th".equals(aLocale.getLanguage())         && ("TH".equals(aLocale.getCountry()))) {         return new sun.util.BuddhistCalendar(zone, aLocale);     } else if ("JP".equals(aLocale.getVariant())         && "JP".equals(aLocale.getCountry())         && "ja".equals(aLocale.getLanguage())) {         return new JapaneseImperialCalendar(zone, aLocale);     }             // else create the default calendar     return new GregorianCalendar(zone, aLocale);     } 

So getInstance() will return a Calendar based on your default Locale and TimeZone.

Answer 2

Calendar.getInstance() will give you a Calendar using the default time zone and locale, which can result in a GregorianCalendar, a BuddhistCalendar, or a JapaneseImperialCalendar.

GregorianCalendar will always give you, well, a Gregorian calendar.