In Java, the Calendar class represents a specific moment in time and provides methods to extract individual date and time fields. One most commonly used method of the Calendar class is get(int field) method. This method returns the value of a given calendar field, such as year, month, or day.
In this article, we are going to learn about the Calendar.get() method in Java.
Syntax of Calendar.get() Method
public int get(int field)
- Parameter: field: This field is one of the constants defined in java.util.Calendar. For example, Calendar.YEAR, Calendar.MONTH, Calendar.DATE.
- Return Value: It returns the value of the requested field. For example, 2025 for Calendar.YEAR.
Important Points:
- Calendar.MONTH returns values from 0 to 11 means January to December.
- To display a human-readable month number, add 1 to the returned value.
- Calendar.DATE and Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH both are the same.
Examples of Java Calendar.get() Method
Example 1: Current Date Values
// Java program to show current date using Calendar.get()
import java.util.Calendar;
public class Geeks {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Get an instance set to the current date and time
Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
int year = cal.get(Calendar.YEAR);
// add 1 for human-readable month
int month = cal.get(Calendar.MONTH) + 1;
int day = cal.get(Calendar.DATE);
System.out.println("Current Date: " + year
+ "-" + month
+ "-" + day);
}
}
Output
Current Date: 2025-5-7
Explanation:
- get(Calendar.YEAR) returns the 4-digit year.
- get(Calendar.MONTH) returns 4 for May, so we add 1.
- get(Calendar.DATE) returns the day of the month.
Example 2: Specific Date
// Java program to set and show a
// specific date using Calendar.get()
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.GregorianCalendar;
public class Geeks {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Create a Calendar for July 21, 2023
Calendar cal = new GregorianCalendar(2023, 6, 21);
int year = cal.get(Calendar.YEAR);
// July is 6 internally
int month = cal.get(Calendar.MONTH) + 1;
int day = cal.get(Calendar.DATE);
System.out.println("Set Date: " + year
+ "-" + month
+ "-" + day);
}
}
Output
Set Date: 2023-7-21
Common Fields
Field Constant | Description | Usage |
|---|---|---|
Calendar.YEAR | Year, for example, 2025 | Retrievs the year |
Calendar.MONTH | Month (0-11) | Retrievs the month |
Calendar.DATE | Day of month (1-31) | Retrievs the day of month |
Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY | Hour in 24 hour format | Retrievs the hour |
Calendar.MINUTE | Minute (0-59) | Retrievs the minute |
Calendar.SECOND | Second (0-59) | Retrievs the second |
Reference: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/util/Calendar.html#get(int)