try { // Some examples DateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("MM/dd/yy"); Date date = (Date)formatter.parse("01/29/02"); formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MMM-yy"); date = (Date)formatter.parse("29-Jan-02"); // Parse a date and time; see also // Parsing the Time Using a Custom Format formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy.MM.dd.HH.mm.ss"); date = (Date)formatter.parse("2002.01.29.08.36.33"); formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("E, dd MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss Z"); date = (Date)formatter.parse("Tue, 29 Jan 2002 22:14:02 -0500"); } catch (ParseException e) { }