# Comparing Dates

It is easy to use the compareDate routine, along with a tJava component to compare two dates, for example, to check if a date is identical to, earlier than, or later than a specific date, according to the format specified. This routine takes two parameters (the two dates) and returns one of the following three values.

* -1: the first date is earlier than the second date.
* 0: the first date is identical to the second date.
* 1: the first date is later than the second date.

The following gives an example of using this routine.

```
System.out.println(TalendDate.compareDate(TalendDate.parseDate("yyyy-MM-dd", "2015/11/24"), TalendDate.parseDate("yyyy-MM-dd", "2025/11/24")));
```

This example compares the two dates: 2015/11/24 and 2025/11/24 and returns the value -1 in the Run view, indicating that the first date is earlier than the second date.

![The result is -1 in the Run view.](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/studio-user-guide/Resources/images/routines14_d.png)