How can I calculate a time difference in Java?

Question

I want to subtract two time periods say 16:00:00 from 19:00:00. Is there any Java function for this? The results can be in milliseconds, seconds, or minutes.

Answer 1

Java 8 has a cleaner solution - Instant and Duration

Example:

import java.time.Duration; import java.time.Instant; ... Instant start = Instant.now(); //your code Instant end = Instant.now(); Duration timeElapsed = Duration.between(start, end); System.out.println("Time taken: "+ timeElapsed.toMillis() +" milliseconds"); 

Answer 2

String time1 = "16:00:00"; String time2 = "19:00:00";  SimpleDateFormat format = new SimpleDateFormat("HH:mm:ss"); Date date1 = format.parse(time1); Date date2 = format.parse(time2); long difference = date2.getTime() - date1.getTime();  

Difference is in milliseconds.

I modified sfaizs post.