How can Java compare two dates to determine which one is greater?

In Java, you can use the compareTo method to compare the sizes of two dates. This method returns an integer that represents the relationship between the two dates.

The sample code is as follows:

import java.util.Date;

public class CompareDates {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Date date1 = new Date();
        Date date2 = new Date();

        int result = date1.compareTo(date2);

        if (result > 0) {
            System.out.println("date1 is after date2");
        } else if (result < 0) {
            System.out.println("date1 is before date2");
        } else {
            System.out.println("date1 is equal to date2");
        }
    }
}

In the example above, the compareTo method compares two date objects, date1 and date2. If the result is greater than 0, it means date1 is after date2; if the result is less than 0, it means date1 is before date2; if the result is equal to 0, it means date1 and date2 are equal.

Please note that this method compares the order of dates, not the actual value of the dates. If you need to compare the actual value of the dates, you can convert the date objects to milliseconds for comparison.