title: Java date convert string back to Date
body: <p>In my JSF managed bean I have declared startDate as java.utilDate type and I have getters and setters as well. From database startDate is date type.</p>
  
  <p>When I receive value format is of default type and I format the date </p>
  
  <pre><code>SimpleDateFormat df = new SimpleDateFormat(" dd MMM yyyy");
  Date oneDate = new Date(startDate);
  df.format(oneDate);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Issue I am facing is <code>df.format(oneDate);</code> returns String. 
   Is it possible to convert <code>df.format(oneDate)</code> back to Date, so that I need not have to 
   change my startDate data type.</p>
  
  <p>Any help is highly appreciated.</p>
  
  <p>Thanks</p>