Java .before()

The .before() method of the Calendar class is used to check if one Calendar instance is before another.

Syntax

myCalendar.before(otherCalendar)

Returns true if the time given by myCalendar is before the time given by otherCalendar, false otherwise.

Note: The .before() method returns false if the two Calendar instances represent the same time.

Example

In the example below, two Calendar instances are created. The first represents the current date and time, the second represents the current date and time plus two hours. The .before() method is used to check if the myCalendar object is before the otherCalendar object. The method is also used to check if the myCalendar object is before itself.

import java.util.Calendar;

public class Main {
  public static void main(String[] args) {

    // Create a Calendar instance representing the current date and time
    Calendar myCalendar = Calendar.getInstance();

    // Create another Calendar instance representing the current date and time plus two hours
    Calendar otherCalendar = Calendar.getInstance();
    otherCalendar.add(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 2);

    // Check if calendar is before otherCalendar
    if (myCalendar.before(otherCalendar)) {
      System.out.println("myCalendar is before otherCalendar");
    } else {
      System.out.println("myCalendar is not before otherCalendar");
    }

    // Check if calendar is before itself
    if(myCalendar.before(myCalendar)) {
      System.out.println("myCalendar is before itself");
    } else {
      System.out.println("myCalendar is not before itself");
    }
  }
}

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Output for the above code will be:

myCalendar is before otherCalendar
myCalendar is not before itself

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