[java] Java: Get month Integer from Date

How do I get the month as an integer from a Date object (java.util.Date)?

java.util.Date date= new Date();
Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
cal.setTime(date);
int month = cal.get(Calendar.MONTH);

If you use Java 8 date api, you can directly get it in one line!

LocalDate today = LocalDate.now();
int month = today.getMonthValue();

tl;dr

myUtilDate.toInstant()                          // Convert from legacy class to modern. `Instant` is a point on the timeline in UTC.
          .atZone(                              // Adjust from UTC to a particular time zone to determine date. Renders a `ZonedDateTime` object. 
              ZoneId.of( "America/Montreal" )   // Better to specify desired/expected zone explicitly than rely implicitly on the JVM’s current default time zone.
          )                                     // Returns a `ZonedDateTime` object.
          .getMonthValue()                      // Extract a month number. Returns a `int` number.

java.time Details

The Answer by Ortomala Lokni for using java.time is correct. And you should be using java.time as it is a gigantic improvement over the old java.util.Date/.Calendar classes. See the Oracle Tutorial on java.time.

I'll add some code showing how to use java.time without regard to java.util.Date, for when you are starting out with fresh code.

Using java.time in a nutshell… An Instant is a moment on the timeline in UTC. Apply a time zone (ZoneId) to get a ZonedDateTime.

The Month class is a sophisticated enum to represent a month in general. That enum has handy methods such as getting a localized name. And rest assured that the month number in java.time is a sane one, 1-12, not the zero-based nonsense (0-11) found in java.util.Date/.Calendar.

To get the current date-time, time zone is crucial. At any moment the date is not the same around the world. Therefore the month is not the same around the world if near the ending/beginning of the month.

ZoneId zoneId = ZoneId.of( "America/Montreal" );  // Or 'ZoneOffset.UTC'.
ZonedDateTime now = ZonedDateTime.now( zoneId );
Month month = now.getMonth(); 
int monthNumber = month.getValue(); // Answer to the Question.
String monthName = month.getDisplayName( TextStyle.FULL , Locale.CANADA_FRENCH );

About java.time

The java.time framework is built into Java 8 and later. These classes supplant the troublesome old legacy date-time classes such as java.util.Date, Calendar, & SimpleDateFormat.

The Joda-Time project, now in maintenance mode, advises migration to the java.time classes.

To learn more, see the Oracle Tutorial. And search Stack Overflow for many examples and explanations. Specification is JSR 310.

You may exchange java.time objects directly with your database. Use a JDBC driver compliant with JDBC 4.2 or later. No need for strings, no need for java.sql.* classes.

Where to obtain the java.time classes?

• Java SE 8, Java SE 9, Java SE 10, and later
  • Built-in.
  • Part of the standard Java API with a bundled implementation.
  • Java 9 adds some minor features and fixes.
• Java SE 6 and Java SE 7
  • Much of the java.time functionality is back-ported to Java 6 & 7 in ThreeTen-Backport.
• Android
  • Later versions of Android bundle implementations of the java.time classes.
  • For earlier Android (<26), the ThreeTenABP project adapts ThreeTen-Backport (mentioned above). See How to use ThreeTenABP….

The ThreeTen-Extra project extends java.time with additional classes. This project is a proving ground for possible future additions to java.time. You may find some useful classes here such as Interval, YearWeek, YearQuarter, and more.

Date mDate = new Date(System.currentTimeMillis());
mDate.getMonth() + 1

The returned value starts from 0, so you should add one to the result.

Joda-Time

Alternatively, with the Joda-Time DateTime class.

//convert date to datetime
DateTime datetime = new DateTime(date);
int month = Integer.parseInt(datetime.toString("MM"))

…or…

int month = dateTime.getMonthOfYear();

If you can't use Joda time and you still live in the dark world :) ( Java 5 or lower ) you can enjoy this :

Note: Make sure your date is allready made by the format : dd/MM/YYYY

/**
Make an int Month from a date
*/
public static int getMonthInt(Date date) {

    SimpleDateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("MM");
    return Integer.parseInt(dateFormat.format(date));
}

/**
Make an int Year from a date
*/
public static int getYearInt(Date date) {

    SimpleDateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy");
    return Integer.parseInt(dateFormat.format(date));
}