Get all Fridays in a date Range in Java

Question

I recently came across a task where i have to get all Fridays in a date range. I wrote a small piece of code and was surprised see some strange behaviour.

Below is m

Answer 1

tl;dr

someLocalDate.with(                                      // Date-only value without time-of-day and without time zone, represented by `LocalDate` class.
    TemporalAdjusters.nextOrSame ( DayOfWeek.FRIDAY ) )  // Moving from one `LocalDate` object to another, to find the next Friday unless the starting date is already a Friday.
)                                                        // Return a `LocalDate` object.

java.time

The other Answers are outdated. The old java.util.Date/.Calendar classes have been supplanted in Java 8 and later by the new java.time framework. Joda-Time library is excellent, continues to be maintained, and even inspired java.time. But the Joda-Time team recommends moving on to java.time as soon as is convenient.

LocalDate

The java.time classes include LocalDate for a date-only value without time-of-day nor time zone. See Tutorial.

First parse your input strings to get LocalDate objects.

String inputStart = "01/01/2009";
String inputStop = "12/09/2013";  // 258 Fridays.
// String inputStop = "01/01/2009";  // 0 Friday.
// String inputStop = "01/02/2009";  // 1 Friday.

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

LocalDate start = LocalDate.parse ( inputStart , formatter );
LocalDate stop = LocalDate.parse ( inputStop , formatter );

In your own code, try-catch for exception in case of bad inputs. And verify that stop is indeed the same or later than start.

TemporalAdjusters

The java.time framework includes the TemporalAdjuster interface as a way of shifting date-time values. For example, getting the next or same Friday for any particular date. On your starting date, call with(TemporalAdjuster adjuster) and pass a pre-defined implementation of a TemporalAdjuster from the class TemporalAdjusters (note the plural s). See Tutorial.

List fridays = new ArrayList<> ();  // Collect each Friday found.
LocalDate nextOrSameFriday = start.with ( TemporalAdjusters.nextOrSame ( DayOfWeek.FRIDAY ) );
// Loop while we have a friday in hand (non-null) AND that friday is not after our stop date (isBefore or isEqual the stop date).
while ( ( null != nextOrSameFriday ) & (  ! nextOrSameFriday.isAfter ( stop ) ) ) {
    fridays.add ( nextOrSameFriday );  //  Remember this friday.
    nextOrSameFriday = nextOrSameFriday.plusWeeks ( 1 );  // Move to the next Friday, setting up for next iteration of this loop.
}

Dump to console.

System.out.println ( "From: " + start + " to: " + stop + " are " + fridays.size () + " Fridays: " + fridays );

From: 2009-01-01 to: 2013-12-09 are 258 Fridays: [2009-01-02, 2009-01-09, 2009-01-16, 2009-01-23, 2009-01-30, 2009-02-06, 2009-02-13, 2009-02-20, 2009-02-27, 2009-03-06, 2009-03-13, 2009-03-20, 2009-03-27, 2009-04-03, 2009-04-10, 2009-04-17, 2009-04-24, 2009-05-01, 2009-05-08, 2009-05-15, 2009-05-22, 2009-05-29, 2009-06-05, 2009-06-12, 2009-06-19, 2009-06-26, 2009-07-03, 2009-07-10, 2009-07-17, 2009-07-24, 2009-07-31, 2009-08-07, 2009-08-14, 2009-08-21, 2009-08-28, 2009-09-04, 2009-09-11, 2009-09-18, 2009-09-25, 2009-10-02, 2009-10-09, 2009-10-16, 2009-10-23, 2009-10-30, 2009-11-06, 2009-11-13, 2009-11-20, 2009-11-27, 2009-12-04, 2009-12-11, 2009-12-18, 2009-12-25, 2010-01-01, 2010-01-08, 2010-01-15, 2010-01-22, 2010-01-29, 2010-02-05, 2010-02-12, 2010-02-19, 2010-02-26, 2010-03-05, 2010-03-12, 2010-03-19, 2010-03-26, 2010-04-02, 2010-04-09, 2010-04-16, 2010-04-23, 2010-04-30, 2010-05-07, 2010-05-14, 2010-05-21, 2010-05-28, 2010-06-04, 2010-06-11, 2010-06-18, 2010-06-25, 2010-07-02, 2010-07-09, 2010-07-16, 2010-07-23, 2010-07-30, 2010-08-06, 2010-08-13, 2010-08-20, 2010-08-27, 2010-09-03, 2010-09-10, 2010-09-17, 2010-09-24, 2010-10-01, 2010-10-08, 2010-10-15, 2010-10-22, 2010-10-29, 2010-11-05, 2010-11-12, 2010-11-19, 2010-11-26, 2010-12-03, 2010-12-10, 2010-12-17, 2010-12-24, 2010-12-31, 2011-01-07, 2011-01-14, 2011-01-21, 2011-01-28, 2011-02-04, 2011-02-11, 2011-02-18, 2011-02-25, 2011-03-04, 2011-03-11, 2011-03-18, 2011-03-25, 2011-04-01, 2011-04-08, 2011-04-15, 2011-04-22, 2011-04-29, 2011-05-06, 2011-05-13, 2011-05-20, 2011-05-27, 2011-06-03, 2011-06-10, 2011-06-17, 2011-06-24, 2011-07-01, 2011-07-08, 2011-07-15, 2011-07-22, 2011-07-29, 2011-08-05, 2011-08-12, 2011-08-19, 2011-08-26, 2011-09-02, 2011-09-09, 2011-09-16, 2011-09-23, 2011-09-30, 2011-10-07, 2011-10-14, 2011-10-21, 2011-10-28, 2011-11-04, 2011-11-11, 2011-11-18, 2011-11-25, 2011-12-02, 2011-12-09, 2011-12-16, 2011-12-23, 2011-12-30, 2012-01-06, 2012-01-13, 2012-01-20, 2012-01-27, 2012-02-03, 2012-02-10, 2012-02-17, 2012-02-24, 2012-03-02, 2012-03-09, 2012-03-16, 2012-03-23, 2012-03-30, 2012-04-06, 2012-04-13, 2012-04-20, 2012-04-27, 2012-05-04, 2012-05-11, 2012-05-18, 2012-05-25, 2012-06-01, 2012-06-08, 2012-06-15, 2012-06-22, 2012-06-29, 2012-07-06, 2012-07-13, 2012-07-20, 2012-07-27, 2012-08-03, 2012-08-10, 2012-08-17, 2012-08-24, 2012-08-31, 2012-09-07, 2012-09-14, 2012-09-21, 2012-09-28, 2012-10-05, 2012-10-12, 2012-10-19, 2012-10-26, 2012-11-02, 2012-11-09, 2012-11-16, 2012-11-23, 2012-11-30, 2012-12-07, 2012-12-14, 2012-12-21, 2012-12-28, 2013-01-04, 2013-01-11, 2013-01-18, 2013-01-25, 2013-02-01, 2013-02-08, 2013-02-15, 2013-02-22, 2013-03-01, 2013-03-08, 2013-03-15, 2013-03-22, 2013-03-29, 2013-04-05, 2013-04-12, 2013-04-19, 2013-04-26, 2013-05-03, 2013-05-10, 2013-05-17, 2013-05-24, 2013-05-31, 2013-06-07, 2013-06-14, 2013-06-21, 2013-06-28, 2013-07-05, 2013-07-12, 2013-07-19, 2013-07-26, 2013-08-02, 2013-08-09, 2013-08-16, 2013-08-23, 2013-08-30, 2013-09-06, 2013-09-13, 2013-09-20, 2013-09-27, 2013-10-04, 2013-10-11, 2013-10-18, 2013-10-25, 2013-11-01, 2013-11-08, 2013-11-15, 2013-11-22, 2013-11-29, 2013-12-06]

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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.

Using a JDBC driver compliant with JDBC 4.2 or later, you may exchange java.time objects directly with your database. No need for strings nor java.sql.* classes.

Where to obtain the java.time classes?

• Java SE 8, Java SE 9, 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, 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.