layout:post

title:"How To Get Current Timestamp In Java?"

author:gaurav

categories:[Java, Java Time]

description:"In this article, we will see how to get the current timestamp in Java."

In this article, we will see how to get the current timestamp in Java.

To get the current timestamp in Java, we can use[`java.time.Instant`](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/time/Instant.html) from Java 8 and[`java.sql.Timestamp`](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/sql/Timestamp.html) till Java 7.

We check both[`java.time.Instant`](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/time/Instant.html) and[`java.sql.Timestamp`](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/sql/Timestamp.html) one by one.

As per the[javadoc](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/time/Instant.html),

I have given an example below that shows how to get the current timestamp using`java.time.Instant`

importjava.sql.Timestamp;

importjava.time.Instant;

importjava.util.Date;

publicclassInstantExample {

publicstaticvoidmain(String[]args) {

Instant instant=Instant.now();

System.out.println("1. instant:"+ instant);// 2021-05-13T15:05:18.734Z

Date date=newDate();

Instant instantFromDate= date.toInstant();

System.out.println("2. instantFromDate:"+instantFromDate);// 2021-05-13T15:05:18.873Z

Timestamp timestamp=newTimestamp(System.currentTimeMillis());

Instant instantFromTimestamp= timestamp.toInstant();

System.out.println("3. instantFromTimestamp:"+ instantFromTimestamp);// 2021-05-13T15:05:18.874Z

Instant instant2=Instant.now();

long timeStampMillis= instant2.toEpochMilli();

System.out.println("4. timeStampMillis:"+ timeStampMillis);// 1620918318874

Instant instant3=Instant.now();

long timeStampSeconds= instant3.getEpochSecond();

System.out.println("5. timeStampSeconds:"+ timeStampSeconds);// 1620918318

}

}

Output:

1. In the first case, we have used the`.now()` method of the`Instant` class to get the current timestamp.

2. In the second case, we have created a new`date` object, and then we have used the`.toInstant()` on the`date` object to get the current timestamp.

3. In the third case, we have created a new`timestamp` object using the system time in milliseconds. We can get the system time in millisecond using the`System.currentTimeMillis()`. To get the current timestamp (as instant) we have used the`.toInstant()` method on the`timestamp` object.

4. In the fourth case, we are trying to get the epoch timestamp in milliseconds. We can get it using the`.toEpochMilli()` method on the`instant` object.

5. In the fifth case, we are trying to get the epoch timestamp in seconds. We can get it using the`.getEpochSecond()` method on the`instant` object.

importjava.sql.Timestamp;

importjava.util.Date;

publicclassTimestampExample {

publicstaticvoidmain(String[]args) {

Timestamp timestampFromSystemTime=newTimestamp(System.currentTimeMillis());

System.out.println("1. timestampFromSystemTime:"+timestampFromSystemTime);// 2021-05-13 20:55:44.179

Date date=newDate();

Timestamp timestampFromDateObject=newTimestamp(date.getTime());

System.out.println("2. timestampFromDateObject:"+timestampFromDateObject);// 2021-05-13 20:55:44.187

}

}

Output:

1. In the first case, we are got the`timestamp` using the system time in milliseconds. We can get the system time in millisecond using the`System.currentTimeMillis()`.

2. In the second case, we have created a new`date` object, and then we have used the`.getTime()` on the`date` object to get the current time in milliseconds. We have passed the time milliseconds to timestamp constructor to get the current timestamp.

Sometimes we may need to convert the`java.time.Instant` to`java.sql.Timestamp` or vice versa. So let's see both conversions below.

I have given an example below that converts the`java.time.Instant` to`java.sql.Timestamp` class.

importjava.sql.Timestamp;

importjava.time.Instant;

publicclassInstantToTimestamp {

publicstaticvoidmain(String[]args) {

Instant instant=Instant.now();

Timestamp timestamp=Timestamp.from(instant);

System.out.println("Instant To Timestamp:"+timestamp);// 2021-05-13 21:07:44.381

}

}

Output:

In the above example, we have used`.from()` of the`Timestamp` class to get the current timestamp from the`instant` object.

Timestamp timestamp=Timestamp.from(instant);

I have given an example below that converts the`java.sql.Timestamp` to`java.time.Instant` class.

importjava.sql.Timestamp;

importjava.time.Instant;

publicclassTimestampToInstant {

publicstaticvoidmain(String[]args) {

Timestamp timestamp=newTimestamp(System.currentTimeMillis());

Instant instant= timestamp.toInstant();

System.out.println("Timestamp To Instant:"+instant);// 2021-05-13T15:39:08.046Z

}

}

Output:

In the above example, we have used the`.toInstant()` method on the`timestamp` object to get the current timestamp (as Instant ).

We can get the current timestamp in java using the`Instant` and`Timestamp`.

From Java 8, it is recommended to use the timestamp of the Instant class. We can get the current timestamp from`Instant`as is given below,

Instant instant=Instant.now();

Date date=newDate();

Instant instantFromDate= date.toInstant();

Timestamp timestamp=newTimestamp(System.currentTimeMillis());

Instant instantFromTimestamp= timestamp.toInstant();

Instant instant2=Instant.now();

long timeStampMillis= instant2.toEpochMilli();

Instant instant3=Instant.now();

long timeStampSeconds= instant3.getEpochSecond();

In Java 7 or below, we can use the`Timestamp` class to get the current timestamp.

Timestamp timestampFromSystemTime=newTimestamp(System.currentTimeMillis());

Date date=newDate();

System.out.println(date.getTime());

Timestamp timestampFromDateObject=newTimestamp(date.getTime());

Also we can convert the`java.time.Instant` to`java.sql.Timestamp` or vice versa.

**Instant To Timestamp**

Instant instant=Instant.now();

Timestamp timestamp=Timestamp.from(instant);

**Timestamp to Instant**

Timestamp timestamp=newTimestamp(System.currentTimeMillis());

Instant instant= timestamp.toInstant();

That's it for now.

If you have any queries about the above article, please comment below. Thanks.

We will see how to get the current date-time in java. Also, we will see how we can format them using the SimpleDateFormat.

You can check my YouTube channel at:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl31HHUdQbSHOQfc9L-wo3w

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