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Java: Calculate month end date based on timezone

I have method to find month end date based on the timezone.
Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance(TimeZone.getTimeZone("CET"));
calendar.set(
Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH,
calendar.getActualMaximum(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH)
);
System.out.println(calendar.getTime());`
It displays output: Thu Aug 30 18:04:54 PDT 2018.
It should, however, give me an output in CET.
What am I missing?

The Calendar.getTime() method returns a Date object, which you then printed in your code. The problem is that the Date class does not contain any notion of a timezone even though you had specified a timezone with the Calendar.getInstance() call. Yes, that is indeed confusing.
Thus, in order to print a Date object in a specific timezone, you have to use the SimpleDateFormat class, where you must call SimpleDateFormat.setTimeZone() to specify the timezone before you print.
Here's an example:
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.TimeZone;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
public class TimeZoneTest {
public static void main(String argv[]){
Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance(TimeZone.getTimeZone("CET"));
calendar.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, calendar.getActualMaximum(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH));
System.out.println("calendar.getTime(): " + calendar.getTime());
SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MMM-dd HH:mm:ss z");
sdf.setTimeZone(TimeZone.getTimeZone("CET"));
System.out.println("sdf.format(): " + sdf.format(calendar.getTime()));
}
}
Here is the output on my computer:
calendar.getTime(): Fri Aug 31 01:40:17 UTC 2018
sdf.format(): 2018-Aug-31 03:40:17 CEST

This is because Date object doesn't have timezone as part of its state, and getTime() actually returns a date which corresponds to the JVM's timezone, instead you need SimpleDateFormat to format and print the date in your required timezone.
If you try adding the following line of code, you could see that the timezone in the calendar is actually CET.
System.out.println(calendar.getTimeZone().getDisplayName());

tl;dr
YearMonth // Represent a year-month without day-of-month.
.now( // Capture the current year-month as seen in the wall-clock time used by the people of a particular region (a time zone).
ZoneId.of( "Africa/Tunis" ) // Specify your desired time zone. Never use 3-4 letter pseudo-zones such as `CET`.
) // Returns a `YearMonth` object.
.atEndOfMonth() // Determine the last day of this year-month. Returns a `LocalDate` object.
.atStartOfDay( // Let java.time determine the first moment of the day. Not necessarily 00:00:00, could be 01:00:00 or some other time-of-day because of anomalies such as Daylight Saving Time (DST).
ZoneId.of( "Africa/Tunis" )
) // Returns a `ZonedDateTime` object, representing a date, a time-of-day, and a time zone.
java.time
You are using the terrible old Calendar class that was supplanted years ago but the modern java.time classes.
LocalDate
If you need only a date, use LocalDate class. Then the time zone is irrelevant for your output.
But time zone is very relevant for determining the current date. For any given moment, the date varies around the globe by zone.
Specify a proper time zone name in the format of continent/region, such as America/Montreal, Africa/Casablanca, or Pacific/Auckland. Never use the 3-4 letter abbreviation such as CET or IST as they are not true time zones, not standardized, and not even unique(!).
ZoneId z = ZoneId.of( "Europe/Paris" ) ; // Or "Africa/Tunis" etc.
LocalDate today = LocalDate.now( z ) ; // Capture the current date as seen by the wall-clock time used by the people of a certain region (a time zone).
YearMonth
Get the month for that date. Represent a year-month with, well, YearMonth.
YearMonth ym = YearMonth.from( today ) ;
Or skip the LocalDate.
YearMonth ym = YearMonth.now( z ) ;
Get the end of the month.
LocalDate endOfThisMonth = ym.atEndOfMonth() ;
ISO 8601
To generate a String representing that LocalDate object’s value, call toString. The default format is taken from the ISO 8601 standard. For a date-only value that will be YYYY-MM-DD such as 2018-01-23.
String output = endOfThisMonth.toString() ;
If you need another format, use DateTimeFormatter class. Search Stack Overflow for many examples and discussions.
Moment
If you need a moment, you can add a time-of-day and time zone to your LocalDate to get a ZonedDateTime. Or let ZonedDateTime determine the first moment of the day (which is not always 00:00:00!).
ZonedDateTime zdt = LocalDate.atStartOfDay( z ) ;
About java.time
The java.time framework is built into Java 8 and later. These classes supplant the troublesome old legacy date-time classes such as java.util.Date, Calendar, & SimpleDateFormat.
The Joda-Time project, now in maintenance mode, advises migration to the java.time classes.
To learn more, see the Oracle Tutorial. And search Stack Overflow for many examples and explanations. Specification is JSR 310.
You may exchange java.time objects directly with your database. Use a JDBC driver compliant with JDBC 4.2 or later. No need for strings, no need for java.sql.* classes.
Where to obtain the java.time classes?
Java SE 8, Java SE 9, Java SE 10, and later
Built-in.
Part of the standard Java API with a bundled implementation.
Java 9 adds some minor features and fixes.
Java SE 6 and Java SE 7
Much of the java.time functionality is back-ported to Java 6 & 7 in ThreeTen-Backport.
Android
Later versions of Android bundle implementations of the java.time classes.
For earlier Android (<26), the ThreeTenABP project adapts ThreeTen-Backport (mentioned above). See How to use ThreeTenABP….
The ThreeTen-Extra project extends java.time with additional classes. This project is a proving ground for possible future additions to java.time. You may find some useful classes here such as Interval, YearWeek, YearQuarter, and more.

Getting last Day of Month XY with Calendar Java

I need to get the last date of a given month, in my case I need to get the last Date of June. My code is following:
cal.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH,
Calendar.getInstance().getActualMinimum(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH));
int month = cal.get(Calendar.MONTH) + 1;
if (month <= 6) {
cal.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_YEAR, Calendar.getInstance()
.getActualMaximum(Calendar.JUNE));
return (Calendar) cal;
} else {
cal.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_YEAR, Calendar.getInstance()
.getActualMaximum(Calendar.DAY_OF_YEAR));
return (Calendar) cal;
}
At first I get the actual month and wether it's the first half of the year or the second in need another date, always the last date of that half year. With the code above the return is
2015-01-31
and not 2015-06-31 as I thought it should be. How could I possibly fix this?

Your code is all over the place at the moment, unfortunately - you're creating new calendars multiple times for no obvious reason, and you're calling Calendar.getActualMaximum passing in the wrong kind of constant (a value rather than a field).
You want something like:
int month = cal.get(Calendar.MONTH) <= Calendar.JUNE
? Calendar.JUNE : Calendar.DECEMBER;
cal.set(Calendar.MONTH, month);
cal.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, cal.getActualMaximum(Calenday.DAY_OF_MONTH));
return cal;
However, I would strongly recommend using java.time if you're on Java 8, and Joda Time if you're not - both are much, much better APIs than java.util.Calendar.

java.time
Much easier now with the modern java.time classes. Specifically, the YearMonth, Month, and LocalDate classes.
LocalDate
The LocalDate class represents a date-only value without time-of-day and without time zone.
A time zone is crucial in determining a date. For any given moment, the date varies around the globe by zone. For example, a few minutes after midnight in Paris France is a new day while still “yesterday” in Montréal Québec.
If no time zone is specified, the JVM implicitly applies its current default time zone. That default may change at any moment, so your results may vary. Better to specify your desired/expected time zone explicitly as an argument.
Specify a proper time zone name in the format of continent/region, such as America/Montreal, Africa/Casablanca, or Pacific/Auckland. Never use the 3-4 letter abbreviation such as EST or IST as they are not true time zones, not standardized, and not even unique(!).
ZoneId z = ZoneId.of( "America/Montreal" ) ;
LocalDate today = LocalDate.now( z ) ;
If you want to use the JVM’s current default time zone, ask for it and pass as an argument. If omitted, the JVM’s current default is applied implicitly. Better to be explicit, as the default may be changed at any moment during runtime by any code in any thread of any app within the JVM.
ZoneId z = ZoneId.systemDefault() ; // Get JVM’s current default time zone.
Or specify a date. You may set the month by a number, with sane numbering 1-12 for January-December.
LocalDate ld = LocalDate.of( 1986 , 2 , 23 ) ; // Years use sane direct numbering (1986 means year 1986). Months use sane numbering, 1-12 for January-December.
Or, better, use the Month enum objects pre-defined, one for each month of the year. Tip: Use these Month objects throughout your codebase rather than a mere integer number to make your code more self-documenting, ensure valid values, and provide type-safety.
LocalDate ld = LocalDate.of( 1986 , Month.FEBRUARY , 23 ) ;
YearMonth
With a LocalDate in hand, get the year-month of that date.
YearMonth ym = YearMonth.from( ld ) ;
See which half year it is in.
Set < Month > firstHalfOfYear = EnumSet.range( Month.JANUARY , Month.JUNE ); // Populate the set with first six months of the year.
boolean isFirstHalf = firstHalfOfYear.contains( ym.getMonth() );
Knowing which half of the year, get the end of June or the end of December in the same year.
LocalDate result = null;
if ( isFirstHalf ) {
result = ym.withMonth( Month.JUNE.getValue() ).atEndOfMonth();
} else { // Else in last half of year.
result = ym.withMonth( Month.DECEMBER.getValue() ).atEndOfMonth();
}
About java.time
The java.time framework is built into Java 8 and later. These classes supplant the troublesome old legacy date-time classes such as java.util.Date, Calendar, & SimpleDateFormat.
The Joda-Time project, now in maintenance mode, advises migration to the java.time classes.
To learn more, see the Oracle Tutorial. And search Stack Overflow for many examples and explanations. Specification is JSR 310.
You may exchange java.time objects directly with your database. Use a JDBC driver compliant with JDBC 4.2 or later. No need for strings, no need for java.sql.* classes.
Where to obtain the java.time classes?
Java SE 8, Java SE 9, Java SE 10, and later
Built-in.
Part of the standard Java API with a bundled implementation.
Java 9 adds some minor features and fixes.
Java SE 6 and Java SE 7
Much of the java.time functionality is back-ported to Java 6 & 7 in ThreeTen-Backport.
Android
Later versions of Android bundle implementations of the java.time classes.
For earlier Android (<26), the ThreeTenABP project adapts ThreeTen-Backport (mentioned above). See How to use ThreeTenABP….
The ThreeTen-Extra project extends java.time with additional classes. This project is a proving ground for possible future additions to java.time. You may find some useful classes here such as Interval, YearWeek, YearQuarter, and more.

How to check if a certain date is passed

I have a string of the form "mm/yyyy" and I want to compare it against the date of the local system.
I have thought of either using a conversion table between my month and the MONTH field in Calendar, something like:
Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
String date = "07/2014";
String month = date.subString(0, 2);
int monthToCompare;
if (month.equals("01"))
monthToCompare = cal.JANUARY;
if (month.equals("02"))
monthToCompare = cal.FEBRUARY;
...
And then comparing manually with an if. I don't like it because I think is way too long for such a simple operation.
The other option I've thought of is getting the current Date() and using the before() method. That would mean translating my date to the Date format, but the easy methods to do it are deprecated, I must specify the number of milliseconds and I do not know how to easily do that (taking into consideration leap years, calendar corrections and so on since 1970).

Using #Mifmif answer I finally solved the problem with:
if (new SimpleDateFormat("MM/yyyy").parse(date).before(new Date())) {
...
}

Try this :
new SimpleDateFormat("MM/yyyy").parse("07/2014").compareTo(new Date());

tl;dr
YearMonth.parse(
"07/2014" ,
DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern( "MM/uuuu" )
).isAfter(
YearMonth.now(
ZoneId.of( "Africa/Tunis" )
)
)
java.time
The modern solution uses the java.time classes rather than the troublesome old date-time classes.
Year & month only
To represent an entire month, use the YearMonth class.
String input = "07/2014" ;
DateTimeFormatter f = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern( "MM/uuuu" ) ;
YearMonth ym = YearMonth.parse( input , f ) ;
Tips: Use such YearMonth objects throughout your codebase rather than a mere string. And when you do need a string to exchange data, use standard ISO 8601 format: YYYY-MM. The java.time classes use standard formats by default when parsing/generating strings, so no need to define formatting pattern.
Current year-month
Determining the current year-month means determining the current date.
A time zone is crucial in determining a date. For any given moment, the date varies around the globe by zone. For example, a few minutes after midnight in Paris France is a new day while still “yesterday” in Montréal Québec.
If no time zone is specified, the JVM implicitly applies its current default time zone. That default may change at any moment, so your results may vary. Better to specify your desired/expected time zone explicitly as an argument.
Specify a proper time zone name in the format of continent/region, such as America/Montreal, Africa/Casablanca, or Pacific/Auckland. Never use the 3-4 letter abbreviation such as EST or IST as they are not true time zones, not standardized, and not even unique(!).
ZoneId z = ZoneId.of( "America/Montreal" ) ;
LocalDate today = LocalDate.now( z ) ;
If you want to use the JVM’s current default time zone, ask for it and pass as an argument. If omitted, the JVM’s current default is applied implicitly. Better to be explicit, as the default may be changed at any moment during runtime by any code in any thread of any app within the JVM.
ZoneId z = ZoneId.systemDefault() ; // Get JVM’s current default time zone.
Same idea applies to getting the current YearMonth: pass a ZoneId.
YearMonth currentYearMonth = YearMonth.now( z ) ;
Compare
Compare using methods isBefore, isAfter, and equals.
boolean isAfterCurrentYearMonth = ym.isAfter( currentYearMonth ) ;
About java.time
The java.time framework is built into Java 8 and later. These classes supplant the troublesome old legacy date-time classes such as java.util.Date, Calendar, & SimpleDateFormat.
The Joda-Time project, now in maintenance mode, advises migration to the java.time classes.
To learn more, see the Oracle Tutorial. And search Stack Overflow for many examples and explanations. Specification is JSR 310.
Where to obtain the java.time classes?
Java SE 8, Java SE 9, and later
Built-in.
Part of the standard Java API with a bundled implementation.
Java 9 adds some minor features and fixes.
Java SE 6 and Java SE 7
Much of the java.time functionality is back-ported to Java 6 & 7 in ThreeTen-Backport.
Android
Later versions of Android bundle implementations of the java.time classes.
For earlier Android, the ThreeTenABP project adapts ThreeTen-Backport (mentioned above). See How to use ThreeTenABP….
The ThreeTen-Extra project extends java.time with additional classes. This project is a proving ground for possible future additions to java.time. You may find some useful classes here such as Interval, YearWeek, YearQuarter, and more.

//getting current date
private String getDateTime() {
DateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MMM-yyyy", Locale.getDefault());
Date date = new Date();
return dateFormat.format(date);
}
//compare the dates
Date date1 = new Date("second_date to be compared");
Date date2 = new Date(getDateTime());
if(date1.before(date2)) {
Log.d("Date already passed", " " + "second_date");
}

Comparing Dates and Using Calendar class and Date class In Java

I'd love your help understanding the following:
Assume that I have a Value of type date
Date start;
How can I chack whether the current date is a week or more since the date of start ?
I tried to chack Java API on the web, and I got confused.
Thank you.

Using calendar you can add days to the start date and then compare it to the current date.
For example:
Date start = Calendar.getInstance().getTime();
start.setTime(1304805094L); // right now...
Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
cal.add(Calendar.DAY_OF_YEAR, 7);
start.compareTo(cal.getTime());

I would use Joda time for that.
http://joda-time.sourceforge.net/
You can then use this method as a template for what you want to do. The method is an example from the Joda site:
public boolean isRentalOverdue(DateTime datetimeRented) {
Period rentalPeriod = new Period().withDays(2).withHours(12);
return datetimeRented.plus(rentalPeriod).isBeforeNow();
}

tl;dr
whether the current date is a week or more since the date of start ?
LocalDate.now().minusWeeks( 1 ).isAfter( someLocalDate )
java.time
The modern approach uses java.time classes.
The LocalDate class represents a date-only value without time-of-day and without time zone.
A time zone is crucial in determining a date. For any given moment, the date varies around the globe by zone. For example, a few minutes after midnight in Paris France is a new day while still “yesterday” in Montréal Québec.
If no time zone is specified, the JVM implicitly applies its current default time zone. That default may change at any moment, so your results may vary. Better to specify your desired/expected time zone explicitly as an argument.
Specify a proper time zone name in the format of continent/region, such as America/Montreal, Africa/Casablanca, or Pacific/Auckland. Never use the 3-4 letter abbreviation such as EST or IST as they are not true time zones, not standardized, and not even unique(!).
ZoneId z = ZoneId.of( "America/Montreal" );
LocalDate today = LocalDate.now( z );
Specify the other date. You may set the month by a number, with sane numbering 1-12 for January-December.
LocalDate ld = LocalDate.of( 1986 , 2 , 23 ) ; // Years use sane direct numbering (1986 means year 1986). Months use sane numbering, 1-12 for January-December.
Or, better, use the Month enum objects pre-defined, one for each month of the year. Tip: Use these Month objects throughout your codebase rather than a mere integer number to make your code more self-documenting, ensure valid values, and provide type-safety.
LocalDate ld = LocalDate.of( 1986 , Month.FEBRUARY , 23 ) ;
So, is the current date at least a week after the target date?
Calculate a week ago.
LocalDate weekAgo = today.minusWeeks( 1 ) ;
Compare with isBefore, isAfter, and isEqual methods.
Boolean isOverAWeekOld = ld.isBefore( weekAgo ) ;
Bonus: See if the target date is within the past week.
boolean inPastWeek = ( ! ld.isBefore( weekAgo ) ) && ld.isBefore( today ) ;
About java.time
The java.time framework is built into Java 8 and later. These classes supplant the troublesome old legacy date-time classes such as java.util.Date, Calendar, & SimpleDateFormat.
The Joda-Time project, now in maintenance mode, advises migration to the java.time classes.
To learn more, see the Oracle Tutorial. And search Stack Overflow for many examples and explanations. Specification is JSR 310.
Where to obtain the java.time classes?
Java SE 8, Java SE 9, and later
Built-in.
Part of the standard Java API with a bundled implementation.
Java 9 adds some minor features and fixes.
Java SE 6 and Java SE 7
Much of the java.time functionality is back-ported to Java 6 & 7 in ThreeTen-Backport.
Android
Later versions of Android bundle implementations of the java.time classes.
For earlier Android, the ThreeTenABP project adapts ThreeTen-Backport (mentioned above). See How to use ThreeTenABP….
The ThreeTen-Extra project extends java.time with additional classes. This project is a proving ground for possible future additions to java.time. You may find some useful classes here such as Interval, YearWeek, YearQuarter, and more.

how to pass hour, minute and second in calendar object in android java

i have made an application in which i need to perform date conversion.
Here is my code.
GregorianCalendar c = new GregorianCalendar(Locale.GERMANY);
c.set(2011, 04, 29,0,0,0);
String cdate = (String) DateFormat.format("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss", c.getTime());
Log.i(tag,cdate);
now when i check my LOG here is the output:
04-22 12:44:15.956: INFO/GridCellAdapter(30248): 2011-04-29 HH:00:00
why is the hour field not getting set. i have explicitly passed 0 when i was making the calendar object, still it is display HH in the LOG.
what could be the problem?
thank you in advance.

use lower-case hh:
String cdate = (String) DateFormat.format("yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss", c.getTime());

set c.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY,0) and it should work.
Have you tried like this?
c.set(Calendar.YEAR, 2009);
c.set(Calendar.MONTH,11);
c.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH,4);
c.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY,0);
c.set(Calendar.MINUTE,0);
c.set(Calendar.SECOND,0)

tl;dr
LocalDate.of( 2011 , 4 , 29 ) // Represent April 29, 2011.
.atStartOfDay( ZoneId.of( "America/Montreal" ) ) // Determine the first moment of the day. Often 00:00:00 but not always.
.format( DateTimeFormatter.ISO_LOCAL_DATE_TIME ) // Generate a String representing the value of this date, using standard ISO 8601 format.
.replace( "T" , " " ) // Replace the `T` in the middle of standard ISO 8601 format with a space for readability.
Using java.time
The modern way is with the java.time classes.
If you are trying to get the first moment of the day, do not assume the time 00:00:00. Anomalies in some time zones mean the day may start at another time-of-day such as 01:00:00.
The LocalDate class represents a date-only value without time-of-day and without time zone.
A time zone is crucial in determining a date. For any given moment, the date varies around the globe by zone. For example, a few minutes after midnight in Paris France is a new day while still “yesterday” in Montréal Québec.
Specify a proper time zone name in the format of continent/region, such as America/Montreal, Africa/Casablanca, or Pacific/Auckland. Never use the 3-4 letter abbreviation such as EST or IST as they are not true time zones, not standardized, and not even unique(!).
ZoneId z = ZoneId.of( "America/Montreal" );
LocalDate today = LocalDate.now( z );
You want a specific date in your Question.
LocalDate localDate = LocalDate.of( 2011 , 4 , 29 ) ;
Apply the time zone again in determining the first moment of the day.
ZonedDateTime zdt = localDate.atStartOfDay( z ); // Determine the first moment of the day on this date for this zone.
I recommend always including an indicator of the time zone or offset-from-UTC with your date-time strings. But if you insist, you can use a DateTimeFormatter predefined in java.time that does not include zone/offset: DateTimeFormatter.ISO_LOCAL_DATE_TIME. Merely remove the T from the middle.
String output = zdt.format( DateTimeFormatter.ISO_LOCAL_DATE_TIME )
.replace( "T" , " " ) ;
About java.time
The java.time framework is built into Java 8 and later. These classes supplant the troublesome old legacy date-time classes such as java.util.Date, Calendar, & SimpleDateFormat.
The Joda-Time project, now in maintenance mode, advises migration to the java.time classes.
To learn more, see the Oracle Tutorial. And search Stack Overflow for many examples and explanations. Specification is JSR 310.
Where to obtain the java.time classes?
Java SE 8, Java SE 9, and later
Built-in.
Part of the standard Java API with a bundled implementation.
Java 9 adds some minor features and fixes.
Java SE 6 and Java SE 7
Much of the java.time functionality is back-ported to Java 6 & 7 in ThreeTen-Backport.
Android
The ThreeTenABP project adapts ThreeTen-Backport (mentioned above) for Android specifically.
See How to use ThreeTenABP….