I believe this snippet will also be helpful in a situation where the dates comparison spans more than two entries.
static final int COMPARE_EARLIEST = 0;
static final int COMPARE_MOST_RECENT = 1;
public LocalDate getTargetDate(List<LocalDate> datesList, int comparatorType) {
LocalDate refDate = null;
switch(comparatorType)
{
case COMPARE_EARLIEST:
//returns the most earliest of the date entries
refDate = (LocalDate) datesList.stream().min(Comparator.comparing(item ->
item.toDateTimeAtCurrentTime())).get();
break;
case COMPARE_MOST_RECENT:
//returns the most recent of the date entries
refDate = (LocalDate) datesList.stream().max(Comparator.comparing(item ->
item.toDateTimeAtCurrentTime())).get();
break;
}
return refDate;
}