title: compare dates in String format
body: <p>I'm getting two dates as String values and I wanted to check start time is earlier than the end time. I compare them as it is without converting them to date using <code>SimpleDateFormat</code>, like this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>String startTime = "2013-01-02 14:25:56";
  String endTime   = "2013-01-02 14:30:56";
  
  if(endTime.compareTo(startTime) &gt; 0){
      System.out.println("End time is greater than start time");
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Is it really necessary to convert them to date and compare? Will I miss anything? Am I doing the right thing?</p>