.from()

The ‘Date.from()’ method returns an Instant object of a given Date. An Instant provides more accuracy than a Date because it reports nanoseconds (while Dates are limited to milliseconds).

Syntax

someDate.from(inst)

The Date.from() method is used in combination with an Instant object inst.

In Java from is not a keyword. The from method can be used with the Date class to retrieve the current day, date, time, timezone and year.

Date today = new Date();
Instant inst = Instant.now();
System.out.println(today.from(inst));

Example

The following example uses the words "apples" and "oranges" to avoid syntax confusion:

import java.time.Instant;
import java.util.Date;

class JavaDateDemo {
    public static void main(String args[])
    {
        // This line creates a Date object called "apples".
        Date apples = new Date();

        // This line creates an Instant object called "oranges".
        Instant oranges = Instant.now();

        // This line displays the instant using the .from() method.
        System.out.println(
                "Present day, date, time, timezone and year: "
                        + apples.from(oranges));
    }
}

The output will be the exact day, date, time, timezone and year of the moment the query is submitted:

Present day, date, time, timezone and year: Wed Aug 02 11:06:16 AKDT 2023