How can I print date in dd-mmm-yyyy format in java ?

Question

I'm able to calculate future date using

    Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
    cal.add(Calendar.DATE, days); // +days      
    return cal.getTime();

but the returned date format is : Fri Nov 23 12:09:46 PST 2018

how to override it with dd-mmm-yyyy format ??

Answer 1

You can use SimpleDateFormat as shown below:

Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
cal.add(Calendar.DATE, days); // +days      
SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MMM-yyyy", Locale.getDefault());
return formatter.format(cal.getTime());

Demo:

import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.Locale;

class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println(toFormattedString(10, "dd-MMM-yyyy"));
        System.out.println(toFormattedString(10, "dd-MM-yyyy"));
    }

    static String toFormattedString(int days, String pattern) {
        Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
        cal.add(Calendar.DATE, days); // +days
        SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat(pattern, Locale.getDefault());
        return formatter.format(cal.getTime());
    }
}

Output:

18-Feb-2021
18-02-2021

The date-time API of java.util and their formatting API, SimpleDateFormat are outdated and error-prone. It is recommended to stop using them completely and switch to the modern date-time API.

• For any reason, if you have to stick to Java 6 or Java 7, you can use ThreeTen-Backport which backports most of the java.time functionality to Java 6 & 7.
• If you are working for an Android project and your Android API level is still not compliant with Java-8, check Java 8+ APIs available through desugaring and How to use ThreeTenABP in Android Project.

Using the modern date-time API:

import java.time.LocalDate;
import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;
import java.util.Locale;

class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println(toFormattedString(10, "dd-MMM-uuuu"));
        System.out.println(toFormattedString(10, "dd-MM-uuuu"));
    }

    static String toFormattedString(int days, String pattern) {
        LocalDate today = LocalDate.now();
        LocalDate afterTenDays = today.plusDays(days); // +days
        DateTimeFormatter formatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern(pattern, Locale.getDefault());
        return formatter.format(afterTenDays);
    }
}

Output:

18-Feb-2021
18-02-2021

Learn more about the modern date-time API from Trail: Date Time.