title: What is easiest way to compare two dates
body: <blockquote>
    <p><strong>Possible Duplicate:</strong><br>
    <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2592501/compare-dates-in-java">Compare dates in java</a>  </p>
  </blockquote>
  
  
  
  <p>I am getting two dates from server in yyyy-MM-dd format. I have to compare between these two dates. I used compareTo() method to compare two dates. what is more easier way to compare two dates assuming my server will always return not null value in yyyy-MM-dd format?</p>
  
  <p>Define the method</p>
  
  <pre><code>void compareTwoDates(String startDate, String endDate){
          switch(startDate.compareTo(endDate)){
              case -1:
                  //START DATE IS BIGGER THAN END DATE
                  System.out.println(endDate+" IS BIGGER THAN "+startDate);
                  break;
              case 0:
                  //BOTH DATE ARE SAME
                  System.out.println("SAME DATE");
                  break;
              case 1:
                  //END DATE IS BIGGER
                  System.out.println(startDate+" IS BIGGER THAN "+endDate);
                  break;
          }
      }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>call the method using following way</p>
  
  <pre><code>compareTwoDates("2012-05-06", "2012-04-08");
  compareTwoDates("2012-04-09", "2012-04-09");
  compareTwoDates("2012-04-09", "2011-05-10");
  </code></pre>