JavaScript Date & Time

Date Methods

Complete guide to Date getters, setters, and utilities

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Date Methods Reference

Comprehensive list of Date methods for getting and setting date/time components, working with UTC, and converting to different formats.

🎓Understanding Date Methods

📥

Getters

Methods to read date parts - like getting the year, month, or hour

date.getFullYear() → 2024

📤

Setters

Methods to change date parts - like setting a new year or hour

date.setFullYear(2025)

Two Types of Methods

🏠

Local Time

Uses your computer's timezone

getHours()setHours()

🌍

UTC Time

Uses universal time (no timezone)

getUTCHours()setUTCHours()

Common Methods Quick Guide

Get Parts:

• getFullYear()

• getMonth()

• getDate()

• getHours()

Set Parts:

• setFullYear()

• setMonth()

• setDate()

• setHours()

Convert:

• toString()

• toISOString()

• getTime()

• Date.now()

Getter Methods (Local Time)

Get date components in local time zone

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Console Output

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Setter Methods (Local Time)

Modify date components

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UTC Methods

Work with UTC time zone

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String Conversion Methods

Convert date to various string formats

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Date.parse() & Date.UTC()

Static methods for parsing and creating dates

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Date.now()

Get current timestamp quickly

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Validation & Edge Cases

Check for invalid dates and handle edge cases

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// Invalid Date
const invalid = new Date('invalid string');
console.log(invalid);  // Invalid Date

// Check if date is valid
function isValidDate(date) {
  return date instanceof Date && !isNaN(date);
}

console.log(isValidDate(new Date()));        // true
console.log(isValidDate(new Date('invalid'))); // false
console.log(isValidDate('2024-12-14'));      // false (not Date object)

// Date overflow handling
const date1 = new Date(2024, 11, 32);  // Dec 32 doesn't exist
console.log(date1);  // Jan 1, 2025 (rolls over)

const date2 = new Date(2024, 13, 1);   // Month 13 doesn't exist
console.log(date2);  // Feb 1, 2025 (rolls over)

// Negative values go backwards
const date3 = new Date(2024, 11, -1);
console.log(date3);  // Nov 29, 2024 (2 days before Dec 1)

// Get last day of month
function getLastDayOfMonth(year, month) {
  return new Date(year, month + 1, 0).getDate();
}

console.log(getLastDayOfMonth(2024, 1));  // 29 (Feb 2024, leap year)
console.log(getLastDayOfMonth(2024, 11)); // 31 (December)

Console Output

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Method Categories

Getters (Local)

getFullYear()

getMonth()

getDate()

getDay()

getHours()

getMinutes()

getSeconds()

Setters (Local)

setFullYear()

setMonth()

setDate()

setHours()

setMinutes()

setSeconds()

setTime()

UTC Methods

getUTCFullYear()

setUTCFullYear()

getUTCMonth()

setUTCMonth()

getUTCDate()

... and more

Key Takeaways

Local vs UTC

Regular methods use local time, UTC methods use UTC time zone

🔧

Setters

Most setters accept multiple params for convenience

📝

String Output

Use toISOString() for standard format

⚡

Performance

Date.now() faster than new Date().getTime()

Previous Topic

Date Object

Working with dates and times in JavaScript.

Next Topic

Date Formatting

toLocaleDateString, toLocaleTimeString, and formatting.

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