How to get my current time

Question

Introduction

I wanted to get my computer's current time in the format of HH:MM:SS. Although I tried a lot of different methods, they are all giving me the same result.

Code

long milliseconds = System.currentTimeMillis(); int seconds = (int) (milliseconds / 1000) % 60 ; int minutes = (int) ((milliseconds / (1000*60)) % 60); int hours = (int) ((milliseconds / (1000*60*60)) % 24); System.out.println(hours +":" + minutes+ ":"+ seconds);

Result

12:42:34 but my computer's current time is 8:42:34

What I want

But the time is different from my computer's current time. Why?

Head First Java is a GREAT starter book for those with some OO background but want to learn basics of Java. It has a great chapter on formatting for multiple inputs and included many calls for date and time as well as the use of Date vs Calendar. — Jeremy Johnson
– Jeremy Johnson, Commented Aug 11, 2013 at 13:08
Also, it seems to me your output is due to time zone. Most millisecond calls are based is Eastern Time Zone — Jeremy Johnson
– Jeremy Johnson, Commented Aug 11, 2013 at 13:10

Peter Mortensen · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-25 03:28:58Z

2

Try this:

DateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("HH:mm:ss"); Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance(); System.out.println(dateFormat.format(cal.getTime()));

edited Mar 25, 2014 at 3:28

Peter Mortensen

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answered Aug 11, 2013 at 13:03

Juned Ahsan

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Comments

jtahlborn · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-11 13:01:40Z

The currentTimeMillis method returns time in UTC time. Use a SimpleDateFormat instance to format the time in your current TimeZone.

Prabhaker A · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-11 13:03:20Z

Try this code

DateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("hh:mm:ss"); Date date = new Date(); System.out.println(dateFormat.format(date));

use hh:mm:ss format for getting hour in am/pm (1-12) .
use HH:mm:ss format for getting hour in 24 hour format .
For more details SimpleDateFormat

Is there any credence to adding some String.format calls? Like %td for day or %tB for month? Also, the use of the < operand for multiple formats for a single input? I ask because it was discussed in a basics book I read.

Developer · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-11 13:03:42Z

1

Try dis

 DateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm:ss"); //get current date time with Date() Date date = new Date(); System.out.println(dateFormat.format(date)); //get current date time with Calendar() Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance(); System.out.println(dateFormat.format(cal.getTime()));

answered Aug 11, 2013 at 13:03

Developer

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2 Comments

Jeremy Johnson Over a year ago

I've read that date has mostly been superceded by calendar, has this been your experience? Or is it just a matter of which one fits the bill? I ask because a book I finished reading seems to highly favor Calendar.

Boris the Spider Over a year ago

@JeremyJohnson Date is simply a wrapper around a UNIX timestamp. Calendar stores TimeZone information and whatnot. Whichever fits the bill really.

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