title: Determine file creation date in Java
body: <p>There is another similar question to mine on StackOverflow (<a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/741466/how-to-get-creation-date-of-a-file-in-java">How to get creation date of a file in Java</a>), but the answer isn't really there as the OP had a different need that could be solved via other mechanisms.  I am trying to create a list of the files in a directory that can be sorted by age, hence the need for the file creation date.</p>
  
  <p>I haven't located any good way to do this after much trawling of the web.  Is there a mechanism for getting file creation dates?</p>
  
  <p>BTW, currently on a Windows system, may need this to work on a Linux system as well.  Also, I can't guarantee that a file naming convention would be followed where the creation date/time is embedded in the name.</p>