How to compare two dates in String format? [duplicate]

Question

What is the easiest way to compare two dates in String format? I would need to know if date1 comes after/before date2.

String date1 = "2015-12-01";
String date2 = "2015-12-31";

Answer 1

In this very case you can just compare strings date1.compareTo(date2).

EDIT: However, the proper way is to use SimpleDateFormat:

DateFormat f = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-mm-dd");
Date d1 = f.parse(date1, new ParsePosition(0));
Date d2 = f.parse(date2, new ParsePosition(0));

And then compare dates:

d1.compareTo(d2);

The comparison will return negative value if d1 is before d2 and positive if d1 is after d2.