How to Convert a String to a LocalDate in Java?

Converting a String to a LocalDate in Java is a common operation when you are dealing with date inputs from users. Java provides the LocalDate class in the java.time package for representing a date without time information. LocalDate class is part of the java.time package introduced in Java 8.

String to a LocalDate Conversion in Java

LocalDate.parse() method of the java.time.LocalDate class to convert a String representation of a date into a LocalDate object. The parse() method will take the date string and a DateTimeFormatter (yyyy-MM-dd) as parameters.

Syntax to Define an Input Format

DateTimeFormatter formatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd");

Syntax to Convert String Date into LocalDate

LocalDate localDate = LocalDate.parse(dateString, formatter);

Program to Convert String to LocalDate in Java

An example demonstrates how to convert String data into LocalDate:

// Java Program to Convert
// String to LocalDate
import java.time.LocalDate;
import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;

// Driver Class
public class GFG {
      // main function 
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        try {
            // Input String Date
            String dateString = "2024-01-20";

            // Define a DateTimeFormatter for the input
            // format
            DateTimeFormatter formatter
                = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd");

            // Convert user input to LocalDate
            LocalDate localDate
                = LocalDate.parse(dateString, formatter);

            // Print the resulting LocalDate
            System.out.println("Converted LocalDate: "
                               + localDate);
        }
        catch (Exception e) {
            System.out.println("Error parsing the date: "
                               + e.getMessage());
        }
    }
}

Converted LocalDate: 2024-01-20

Explanation of the above Program:

• First, We have imported the necessary classes: LocalDate, DateTimeFormatter.
• Then inside the try-catch block, We have defined a String variable dateString that value is in yyyy-MM-dd format.
• We have used DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern() method to define format of our input dateString.
• By using a LocalDate.parse() method, we are converting date string into a LocalDate.
• After converting, we are printing the output.
• If an exception occurs during parsing, we catch it and print an error message.