What is the default timezone in java.util.Date

Question

If i create a new Date() object. What will be the default timezone it will print.

I have my machine running in GMT. And i am creating a new Date() object. If i print why does it shows Thu Jul 05 08:21:05 PKT 2012. How does it takes the timezone as PKT ?

Answer 1

The date itself doesn't have any time zone. Its toString() method uses the current default time zone to return a String representing this date:

Date date = new Date();  System.out.println(TimeZone.getDefault()); System.out.println(date);  TimeZone.setDefault(TimeZone.getTimeZone("UTC"));  System.out.println(TimeZone.getDefault()); System.out.println(date); 

Executing the above code on my machine leads to the following output:

sun.util.calendar.ZoneInfo[id="Europe/Paris",offset=3600000,dstSavings=3600000,useDaylight=true,transitions=184,lastRule=java.util.SimpleTimeZone[id=Europe/Paris,offset=3600000,dstSavings=3600000,useDaylight=true,startYear=0,startMode=2,startMonth=2,startDay=-1,startDayOfWeek=1,startTime=3600000,startTimeMode=2,endMode=2,endMonth=9,endDay=-1,endDayOfWeek=1,endTime=3600000,endTimeMode=2]] Fri Jul 06 09:24:45 CEST 2012 sun.util.calendar.ZoneInfo[id="UTC",offset=0,dstSavings=0,useDaylight=false,transitions=0,lastRule=null] Fri Jul 06 07:24:45 UTC 2012