There are three main ways to get the current time in Java: 1. Use java.util.Date to be suitable for simple scenarios, obtain the current time through new Date() and format it with SimpleDateFormat; 2. It is recommended to use java.time.LocalDateTime introduced by Java 8, obtain the current time through LocalDateTime.now(), and supports flexible formatting and time zone processing; 3. It is recommended to use ZonedDateTime combined with ZoneId, such as ZonedDateTime.now(ZoneId.of("Asia/Shanghai")) to obtain the specified time zone time, which is suitable for multi-region user scenarios. These three methods are applicable to different needs, from simple display to complex time zone processing can be covered.

It is actually quite common to get the current time in Java, especially when processing logs, recording operation time or timing tasks. If you are using the standard Java API, there are several ways to get the current date and time.

Use java.util.Date to get the current time

This is the most basic way to be used for old projects or scenarios where time zones are not required to be controlled accurately.

 import java.util.Date;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Date now = new Date();
        System.out.println("Current time:" now);
    }
}

The output result is probably like this:

 Current time: Mon Apr 05 12:34:56 CST 2025

This method is simple and direct, but the disadvantage is that it is not suitable for complex date operations, and the formatted output needs to be combined with SimpleDateFormat .

Use java.time.LocalDateTime (recommended)

Starting from Java 8, the official introduced a new time API, and the classes in java.time package are more intuitive and powerful.

 import java.time.LocalDateTime;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        LocalDateTime now = LocalDateTime.now();
        System.out.println("Current time:" now);
    }
}

The output looks like this:

 Current time: 2025-04-05T12:34:56.789

The advantage of this method is that it can be flexibly formatted in combination with DateTimeFormatter , and also supports time zone processing, such as using ZonedDateTime .

Common formatting methods:

• yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss
• dd/MM/yyyy
• Custom combinations, such as "今天是" yyyy年MM月dd日

Get time information with time zone

If your application involves users in multiple regions, it is recommended to use a class with a time zone, such as ZonedDateTime .

 import java.time.ZonedDateTime;
import java.time.ZoneId;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ZonedDateTime nowInBeijing = ZonedDateTime.now(ZoneId.of("Asia/Shanghai"));
        System.out.println("Beijing time:" nowInBeijing);

        ZonedDateTime nowInNewYork = ZonedDateTime.now(ZoneId.of("America/New_York"));
        System.out.println("New York Time:" nowInNewYork);
    }
}

This method can accurately reflect the local time in different regions and avoid the problem of "inconsistent server time and user time".

Basically that's it

The above methods basically cover most scenarios in Java development where the current time is obtained. If it is a simple display, Date or LocalDateTime is enough; if you want to deal with time zones or do complex calculations, it is recommended to use the classes in java.time package.

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