Compare date and Time without changing their format and find nearest value among them

Question

I have list of dates:

23/08/2014 8:23:23
24/08/2014 5:23:23
24/08/2014 6:23:23
24/08/2014 7:23:23
24/08/2014 7:25:23
24/08/2014 8:23:23

I want to compare all dates to current date time and find the closest date time. Is there any simple way to compare them instead of looping and comparing?

I have tried below example

Date1.after(date2)

date1.compareTo(date2)>0

But I not able to accomplish the result.

I have to compare entire date and time not only date or time

by using below format i have to compare

Date currentTimeDate = new Date(System.currentTimeMillis());

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/186311/best-way-to-find-date-nearest-to-target-in-a-list-of-dates?rq=1 — user2864740, Aug 24 '15 at 12:21
i can't reply anymore so i write here: Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance(); long actualDateMs = cal.getTimeMillis(); long distance = Math.abs(actualDateMs - ListOfDate[0].GetTime()); //GetTime() or whichever methods give you milliseconds from date int index = 0; for(int i = 1; i < ListOfDate.length; i++){ long distancePartial = Math.abs(actualDateMs - ListOfDate[i].GetTime()); if(distancePart < distance){ distance = distancePart; index = i; } } at the end the `index` value is the index of the closest date in the list — Pier Giorgio Misley, Aug 24 '15 at 12:40

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 24 '15 at 12:18

2

Make the list of your Date Objects in a sorted way.
Then create a Date object for current Date time.
Now use the logic of Binary search to find the closest Date Time in your list.
Use Joda Time for comparison.

Consider the above points as hint.

answered Aug 24 '15 at 12:18

Amit Bhati

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score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 24 '15 at 12:21

Try this snippet, It will may be helpful to you.

public static Date closerDate(Date originalDate, Collection<Date> unsortedDates) {
    List<Date> dateList = new LinkedList<Date>(unsortedDates);
    Collections.sort(dateList);
    Iterator<Date> iterator = dateList.iterator();
    Date previousDate = null;
    while (iterator.hasNext()) {
        Date nextDate = iterator.next();
        if (nextDate.before(originalDate)) {
            previousDate = nextDate;
            continue;
        } else if (nextDate.after(originalDate)) {
            if (previousDate == null || isCloserToNextDate(originalDate, previousDate, nextDate)) {
                return nextDate;
            }
        } else {
            return nextDate;
        }
    }
    return previousDate;
}

private static boolean isCloserToNextDate(Date originalDate, Date previousDate, Date nextDate) {
    if(previousDate.after(nextDate))
        throw new IllegalArgumentException("previousDate > nextDate");
    return ((nextDate.getTime() - previousDate.getTime()) / 2 + previousDate.getTime() <= originalDate.getTime());
}

Compare date and Time without changing their format and find nearest value among them

2 Answers2