Class Period

java.lang.Object
java.time.Period
All Implemented Interfaces:
Serializable, ChronoPeriod, TemporalAmount
public final class Period extends Object implements ChronoPeriod, Serializable
A date-based amount of time in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as '2 years, 3 months and 4 days'.

This class models a quantity or amount of time in terms of years, months and days. See Duration for the time-based equivalent to this class.

Durations and periods differ in their treatment of daylight savings time when added to ZonedDateTime. A Duration will add an exact number of seconds, thus a duration of one day is always exactly 24 hours. By contrast, a Period will add a conceptual day, trying to maintain the local time.

For example, consider adding a period of one day and a duration of one day to 18:00 on the evening before a daylight savings gap. The Period will add the conceptual day and result in a ZonedDateTime at 18:00 the following day. By contrast, the Duration will add exactly 24 hours, resulting in a ZonedDateTime at 19:00 the following day (assuming a one hour DST gap).

The supported units of a period are YEARS, MONTHS and DAYS. All three fields are always present, but may be set to zero.

The ISO-8601 calendar system is the modern civil calendar system used today in most of the world. It is equivalent to the proleptic Gregorian calendar system, in which today's rules for leap years are applied for all time.

The period is modeled as a directed amount of time, meaning that individual parts of the period may be negative.

This is a value-based class; programmers should treat instances that are equal as interchangeable and should not use instances for synchronization, or unpredictable behavior may occur. For example, in a future release, synchronization may fail. The equals method should be used for comparisons.

Implementation Requirements:
This class is immutable and thread-safe.
Since:
1.8
See Also:

  • Field Summary

    Fields
    Modifier and Type
    Field
    Description
    static final Period
    ZERO
    A constant for a period of zero.

  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    Temporal
    addTo(Temporal temporal)
    Adds this period to the specified temporal object.
    static Period
    between(LocalDate startDateInclusive, LocalDate endDateExclusive)
    Obtains a Period consisting of the number of years, months, and days between two dates.
    boolean
    equals(Object obj)
    Checks if this period is equal to another period.
    static Period
    from(TemporalAmount amount)
    Obtains an instance of Period from a temporal amount.
    long
    get(TemporalUnit unit)
    Gets the value of the requested unit.
    IsoChronology
    getChronology()
    Gets the chronology of this period, which is the ISO calendar system.
    int
    getDays()
    Gets the amount of days of this period.
    int
    getMonths()
    Gets the amount of months of this period.
    List<TemporalUnit>
    getUnits()
    Gets the set of units supported by this period.
    int
    getYears()
    Gets the amount of years of this period.
    int
    hashCode()
    A hash code for this period.
    boolean
    isNegative()
    Checks if any of the three units of this period are negative.
    boolean
    isZero()
    Checks if all three units of this period are zero.
    Period
    minus(TemporalAmount amountToSubtract)
    Returns a copy of this period with the specified period subtracted.
    Period
    minusDays(long daysToSubtract)
    Returns a copy of this period with the specified days subtracted.
    Period
    minusMonths(long monthsToSubtract)
    Returns a copy of this period with the specified months subtracted.
    Period
    minusYears(long yearsToSubtract)
    Returns a copy of this period with the specified years subtracted.
    Period
    multipliedBy(int scalar)
    Returns a new instance with each element in this period multiplied by the specified scalar.
    Period
    negated()
    Returns a new instance with each amount in this period negated.
    Period
    normalized()
    Returns a copy of this period with the years and months normalized.
    static Period
    of(int years, int months, int days)
    Obtains a Period representing a number of years, months and days.
    static Period
    ofDays(int days)
    Obtains a Period representing a number of days.
    static Period
    ofMonths(int months)
    Obtains a Period representing a number of months.
    static Period
    ofWeeks(int weeks)
    Obtains a Period representing a number of weeks.
    static Period
    ofYears(int years)
    Obtains a Period representing a number of years.
    static Period
    parse(CharSequence text)
    Obtains a Period from a text string such as PnYnMnD.
    Period
    plus(TemporalAmount amountToAdd)
    Returns a copy of this period with the specified period added.
    Period
    plusDays(long daysToAdd)
    Returns a copy of this period with the specified days added.
    Period
    plusMonths(long monthsToAdd)
    Returns a copy of this period with the specified months added.
    Period
    plusYears(long yearsToAdd)
    Returns a copy of this period with the specified years added.
    Temporal
    subtractFrom(Temporal temporal)
    Subtracts this period from the specified temporal object.
    String
    toString()
    Outputs this period as a String, such as P6Y3M1D.
    long
    toTotalMonths()
    Gets the total number of months in this period.
    Period
    withDays(int days)
    Returns a copy of this period with the specified amount of days.
    Period
    withMonths(int months)
    Returns a copy of this period with the specified amount of months.
    Period
    withYears(int years)
    Returns a copy of this period with the specified amount of years.

    Methods declared in class java.lang.Object

    clone, finalize, getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

  • Field Details

    • ZERO

      public static final Period ZERO
      A constant for a period of zero.

  • Method Details

    • ofYears

      public static Period ofYears(int years)
      Obtains a Period representing a number of years.

      The resulting period will have the specified years. The months and days units will be zero.

      Parameters:
      years - the number of years, positive or negative
      Returns:
      the period of years, not null

    • ofMonths

      public static Period ofMonths(int months)
      Obtains a Period representing a number of months.

      The resulting period will have the specified months. The years and days units will be zero.

      Parameters:
      months - the number of months, positive or negative
      Returns:
      the period of months, not null

    • ofWeeks

      public static Period ofWeeks(int weeks)
      Obtains a Period representing a number of weeks.

      The resulting period will be day-based, with the amount of days equal to the number of weeks multiplied by 7. The years and months units will be zero.

      Parameters:
      weeks - the number of weeks, positive or negative
      Returns:
      the period, with the input weeks converted to days, not null

    • ofDays

      public static Period ofDays(int days)
      Obtains a Period representing a number of days.

      The resulting period will have the specified days. The years and months units will be zero.

      Parameters:
      days - the number of days, positive or negative
      Returns:
      the period of days, not null

    • of

      public static Period of(int years, int months, int days)
      Obtains a Period representing a number of years, months and days.

      This creates an instance based on years, months and days.

      Parameters:
      years - the amount of years, may be negative
      months - the amount of months, may be negative
      days - the amount of days, may be negative
      Returns:
      the period of years, months and days, not null

    • from

      public static Period from(TemporalAmount amount)
      Obtains an instance of Period from a temporal amount.

      This obtains a period based on the specified amount. A TemporalAmount represents an amount of time, which may be date-based or time-based, which this factory extracts to a Period.

      The conversion loops around the set of units from the amount and uses the YEARS, MONTHS and DAYS units to create a period. If any other units are found then an exception is thrown.

      If the amount is a ChronoPeriod then it must use the ISO chronology.

      Parameters:
      amount - the temporal amount to convert, not null
      Returns:
      the equivalent period, not null
      Throws:
      DateTimeException - if unable to convert to a Period
      ArithmeticException - if the amount of years, months or days exceeds an int

    • parse

      public static Period parse(CharSequence text)
      Obtains a Period from a text string such as PnYnMnD.

      This will parse the string produced by toString() which is based on the ISO-8601 period formats PnYnMnD and PnW.

      The string starts with an optional sign, denoted by the ASCII negative or positive symbol. If negative, the whole period is negated. The ASCII letter "P" is next in upper or lower case. There are then four sections, each consisting of a number and a suffix. At least one of the four sections must be present. The sections have suffixes in ASCII of "Y", "M", "W" and "D" for years, months, weeks and days, accepted in upper or lower case. The suffixes must occur in order. The number part of each section must consist of ASCII digits. The number may be prefixed by the ASCII negative or positive symbol. The number must parse to an int.

      The leading plus/minus sign, and negative values for other units are not part of the ISO-8601 standard. In addition, ISO-8601 does not permit mixing between the PnYnMnD and PnW formats. Any week-based input is multiplied by 7 and treated as a number of days.

      For example, the following are valid inputs: 

         "P2Y"             -- Period.ofYears(2)
   "P3M"             -- Period.ofMonths(3)
   "P4W"             -- Period.ofWeeks(4)
   "P5D"             -- Period.ofDays(5)
   "P1Y2M3D"         -- Period.of(1, 2, 3)
   "P1Y2M3W4D"       -- Period.of(1, 2, 25)
   "P-1Y2M"          -- Period.of(-1, 2, 0)
   "-P1Y2M"          -- Period.of(-1, -2, 0)
      Parameters:
      text - the text to parse, not null
      Returns:
      the parsed period, not null
      Throws:
      DateTimeParseException - if the text cannot be parsed to a period

    • between

      public static Period between(LocalDate startDateInclusive, LocalDate endDateExclusive)
      Obtains a Period consisting of the number of years, months, and days between two dates.

      The start date is included, but the end date is not. The period is calculated by removing complete months, then calculating the remaining number of days, adjusting to ensure that both have the same sign. The number of months is then split into years and months based on a 12 month year. A month is considered if the end day-of-month is greater than or equal to the start day-of-month. For example, from 2010-01-15 to 2011-03-18 is one year, two months and three days.

      The result of this method can be a negative period if the end is before the start. The negative sign will be the same in each of year, month and day.

      Parameters:
      startDateInclusive - the start date, inclusive, not null
      endDateExclusive - the end date, exclusive, not null
      Returns:
      the period between this date and the end date, not null
      See Also:

    • get

      public long get(TemporalUnit unit)
      Gets the value of the requested unit.

      This returns a value for each of the three supported units, YEARS, MONTHS and DAYS. All other units throw an exception.

      Specified by:
      get in interface ChronoPeriod
      Specified by:
      get in interface TemporalAmount
      Parameters:
      unit - the TemporalUnit for which to return the value
      Returns:
      the long value of the unit
      Throws:
      DateTimeException - if the unit is not supported
      UnsupportedTemporalTypeException - if the unit is not supported

    • getUnits

      public List<TemporalUnit> getUnits()
      Gets the set of units supported by this period.

      The supported units are YEARS, MONTHS and DAYS. They are returned in the order years, months, days.

      This set can be used in conjunction with get(TemporalUnit) to access the entire state of the period.

      Specified by:
      getUnits in interface ChronoPeriod
      Specified by:
      getUnits in interface TemporalAmount
      Returns:
      a list containing the years, months and days units, not null

    • getChronology

      public IsoChronology getChronology()
      Gets the chronology of this period, which is the ISO calendar system.

      The Chronology represents the calendar system in use. The ISO-8601 calendar system is the modern civil calendar system used today in most of the world. It is equivalent to the proleptic Gregorian calendar system, in which today's rules for leap years are applied for all time.

      Specified by:
      getChronology in interface ChronoPeriod
      Returns:
      the ISO chronology, not null

    • isZero

      public boolean isZero()
      Checks if all three units of this period are zero.

      A zero period has the value zero for the years, months and days units.

      Specified by:
      isZero in interface ChronoPeriod
      Returns:
      true if this period is zero-length

    • isNegative

      public boolean isNegative()
      Checks if any of the three units of this period are negative.

      This checks whether the years, months or days units are less than zero.

      Specified by:
      isNegative in interface ChronoPeriod
      Returns:
      true if any unit of this period is negative

    • getYears

      public int getYears()
      Gets the amount of years of this period.

      This returns the years unit.

      The months unit is not automatically normalized with the years unit. This means that a period of "15 months" is different to a period of "1 year and 3 months".

      Returns:
      the amount of years of this period, may be negative

    • getMonths

      public int getMonths()
      Gets the amount of months of this period.

      This returns the months unit.

      The months unit is not automatically normalized with the years unit. This means that a period of "15 months" is different to a period of "1 year and 3 months".

      Returns:
      the amount of months of this period, may be negative

    • getDays

      public int getDays()
      Gets the amount of days of this period.

      This returns the days unit.

      Returns:
      the amount of days of this period, may be negative

    • withYears

      public Period withYears(int years)
      Returns a copy of this period with the specified amount of years.

      This sets the amount of the years unit in a copy of this period. The months and days units are unaffected.

      The months unit is not automatically normalized with the years unit. This means that a period of "15 months" is different to a period of "1 year and 3 months".

      This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

      Parameters:
      years - the years to represent, may be negative
      Returns:
      a Period based on this period with the requested years, not null

    • withMonths

      public Period withMonths(int months)
      Returns a copy of this period with the specified amount of months.

      This sets the amount of the months unit in a copy of this period. The years and days units are unaffected.

      The months unit is not automatically normalized with the years unit. This means that a period of "15 months" is different to a period of "1 year and 3 months".

      This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

      Parameters:
      months - the months to represent, may be negative
      Returns:
      a Period based on this period with the requested months, not null

    • withDays

      public Period withDays(int days)
      Returns a copy of this period with the specified amount of days.

      This sets the amount of the days unit in a copy of this period. The years and months units are unaffected.

      This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

      Parameters:
      days - the days to represent, may be negative
      Returns:
      a Period based on this period with the requested days, not null

    • plus

      public Period plus(TemporalAmount amountToAdd)
      Returns a copy of this period with the specified period added.

      This operates separately on the years, months and days. No normalization is performed.

      For example, "1 year, 6 months and 3 days" plus "2 years, 2 months and 2 days" returns "3 years, 8 months and 5 days".

      The specified amount is typically an instance of Period. Other types are interpreted using from(TemporalAmount).

      This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

      Specified by:
      plus in interface ChronoPeriod
      Parameters:
      amountToAdd - the amount to add, not null
      Returns:
      a Period based on this period with the requested period added, not null
      Throws:
      DateTimeException - if the specified amount has a non-ISO chronology or contains an invalid unit
      ArithmeticException - if numeric overflow occurs

    • plusYears

      public Period plusYears(long yearsToAdd)
      Returns a copy of this period with the specified years added.

      This adds the amount to the years unit in a copy of this period. The months and days units are unaffected. For example, "1 year, 6 months and 3 days" plus 2 years returns "3 years, 6 months and 3 days".

      This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

      Parameters:
      yearsToAdd - the years to add, positive or negative
      Returns:
      a Period based on this period with the specified years added, not null
      Throws:
      ArithmeticException - if numeric overflow occurs

    • plusMonths

      public Period plusMonths(long monthsToAdd)
      Returns a copy of this period with the specified months added.

      This adds the amount to the months unit in a copy of this period. The years and days units are unaffected. For example, "1 year, 6 months and 3 days" plus 2 months returns "1 year, 8 months and 3 days".

      This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

      Parameters:
      monthsToAdd - the months to add, positive or negative
      Returns:
      a Period based on this period with the specified months added, not null
      Throws:
      ArithmeticException - if numeric overflow occurs

    • plusDays

      public Period plusDays(long daysToAdd)
      Returns a copy of this period with the specified days added.

      This adds the amount to the days unit in a copy of this period. The years and months units are unaffected. For example, "1 year, 6 months and 3 days" plus 2 days returns "1 year, 6 months and 5 days".

      This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

      Parameters:
      daysToAdd - the days to add, positive or negative
      Returns:
      a Period based on this period with the specified days added, not null
      Throws:
      ArithmeticException - if numeric overflow occurs

    • minus

      public Period minus(TemporalAmount amountToSubtract)
      Returns a copy of this period with the specified period subtracted.

      This operates separately on the years, months and days. No normalization is performed.

      For example, "1 year, 6 months and 3 days" minus "2 years, 2 months and 2 days" returns "-1 years, 4 months and 1 day".

      The specified amount is typically an instance of Period. Other types are interpreted using from(TemporalAmount).

      This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

      Specified by:
      minus in interface ChronoPeriod
      Parameters:
      amountToSubtract - the amount to subtract, not null
      Returns:
      a Period based on this period with the requested period subtracted, not null
      Throws:
      DateTimeException - if the specified amount has a non-ISO chronology or contains an invalid unit
      ArithmeticException - if numeric overflow occurs

    • minusYears

      public Period minusYears(long yearsToSubtract)
      Returns a copy of this period with the specified years subtracted.

      This subtracts the amount from the years unit in a copy of this period. The months and days units are unaffected. For example, "1 year, 6 months and 3 days" minus 2 years returns "-1 years, 6 months and 3 days".

      This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

      Parameters:
      yearsToSubtract - the years to subtract, positive or negative
      Returns:
      a Period based on this period with the specified years subtracted, not null
      Throws:
      ArithmeticException - if numeric overflow occurs

    • minusMonths

      public Period minusMonths(long monthsToSubtract)
      Returns a copy of this period with the specified months subtracted.

      This subtracts the amount from the months unit in a copy of this period. The years and days units are unaffected. For example, "1 year, 6 months and 3 days" minus 2 months returns "1 year, 4 months and 3 days".

      This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

      Parameters:
      monthsToSubtract - the years to subtract, positive or negative
      Returns:
      a Period based on this period with the specified months subtracted, not null
      Throws:
      ArithmeticException - if numeric overflow occurs

    • minusDays

      public Period minusDays(long daysToSubtract)
      Returns a copy of this period with the specified days subtracted.

      This subtracts the amount from the days unit in a copy of this period. The years and months units are unaffected. For example, "1 year, 6 months and 3 days" minus 2 days returns "1 year, 6 months and 1 day".

      This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

      Parameters:
      daysToSubtract - the months to subtract, positive or negative
      Returns:
      a Period based on this period with the specified days subtracted, not null
      Throws:
      ArithmeticException - if numeric overflow occurs

    • multipliedBy

      public Period multipliedBy(int scalar)
      Returns a new instance with each element in this period multiplied by the specified scalar.

      This returns a period with each of the years, months and days units individually multiplied. For example, a period of "2 years, -3 months and 4 days" multiplied by 3 will return "6 years, -9 months and 12 days". No normalization is performed.

      Specified by:
      multipliedBy in interface ChronoPeriod
      Parameters:
      scalar - the scalar to multiply by, not null
      Returns:
      a Period based on this period with the amounts multiplied by the scalar, not null
      Throws:
      ArithmeticException - if numeric overflow occurs

    • negated

      public Period negated()
      Returns a new instance with each amount in this period negated.

      This returns a period with each of the years, months and days units individually negated. For example, a period of "2 years, -3 months and 4 days" will be negated to "-2 years, 3 months and -4 days". No normalization is performed.

      Specified by:
      negated in interface ChronoPeriod
      Returns:
      a Period based on this period with the amounts negated, not null
      Throws:
      ArithmeticException - if numeric overflow occurs, which only happens if one of the units has the value Integer.MIN_VALUE

    • normalized

      public Period normalized()
      Returns a copy of this period with the years and months normalized.

      This normalizes the years and months units, leaving the days unit unchanged. The months unit is adjusted to have an absolute value less than 12, with the years unit being adjusted to compensate. For example, a period of "1 Year and 15 months" will be normalized to "2 years and 3 months".

      The sign of the years and months units will be the same after normalization. For example, a period of "1 year and -25 months" will be normalized to "-1 year and -1 month".

      This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

      Specified by:
      normalized in interface ChronoPeriod
      Returns:
      a Period based on this period with excess months normalized to years, not null
      Throws:
      ArithmeticException - if numeric overflow occurs

    • toTotalMonths

      public long toTotalMonths()
      Gets the total number of months in this period.

      This returns the total number of months in the period by multiplying the number of years by 12 and adding the number of months.

      This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

      Returns:
      the total number of months in the period, may be negative

    • addTo

      public Temporal addTo(Temporal temporal)
      Adds this period to the specified temporal object.

      This returns a temporal object of the same observable type as the input with this period added. If the temporal has a chronology, it must be the ISO chronology.

      In most cases, it is clearer to reverse the calling pattern by using Temporal.plus(TemporalAmount). 

         // these two lines are equivalent, but the second approach is recommended
   dateTime = thisPeriod.addTo(dateTime);
   dateTime = dateTime.plus(thisPeriod);

      The calculation operates as follows. First, the chronology of the temporal is checked to ensure it is ISO chronology or null. Second, if the months are zero, the years are added if non-zero, otherwise the combination of years and months is added if non-zero. Finally, any days are added.

      This approach ensures that a partial period can be added to a partial date. For example, a period of years and/or months can be added to a YearMonth, but a period including days cannot. The approach also adds years and months together when necessary, which ensures correct behaviour at the end of the month.

      This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

      Specified by:
      addTo in interface ChronoPeriod
      Specified by:
      addTo in interface TemporalAmount
      Parameters:
      temporal - the temporal object to adjust, not null
      Returns:
      an object of the same type with the adjustment made, not null
      Throws:
      DateTimeException - if unable to add
      ArithmeticException - if numeric overflow occurs

    • subtractFrom

      public Temporal subtractFrom(Temporal temporal)
      Subtracts this period from the specified temporal object.

      This returns a temporal object of the same observable type as the input with this period subtracted. If the temporal has a chronology, it must be the ISO chronology.

      In most cases, it is clearer to reverse the calling pattern by using Temporal.minus(TemporalAmount). 

         // these two lines are equivalent, but the second approach is recommended
   dateTime = thisPeriod.subtractFrom(dateTime);
   dateTime = dateTime.minus(thisPeriod);

      The calculation operates as follows. First, the chronology of the temporal is checked to ensure it is ISO chronology or null. Second, if the months are zero, the years are subtracted if non-zero, otherwise the combination of years and months is subtracted if non-zero. Finally, any days are subtracted.

      This approach ensures that a partial period can be subtracted from a partial date. For example, a period of years and/or months can be subtracted from a YearMonth, but a period including days cannot. The approach also subtracts years and months together when necessary, which ensures correct behaviour at the end of the month.

      This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

      Specified by:
      subtractFrom in interface ChronoPeriod
      Specified by:
      subtractFrom in interface TemporalAmount
      Parameters:
      temporal - the temporal object to adjust, not null
      Returns:
      an object of the same type with the adjustment made, not null
      Throws:
      DateTimeException - if unable to subtract
      ArithmeticException - if numeric overflow occurs

    • equals

      public boolean equals(Object obj)
      Checks if this period is equal to another period.

      The comparison is based on the type Period and each of the three amounts. To be equal, the years, months and days units must be individually equal. Note that this means that a period of "15 Months" is not equal to a period of "1 Year and 3 Months".

      Specified by:
      equals in interface ChronoPeriod
      Overrides:
      equals in class Object
      Parameters:
      obj - the object to check, null returns false
      Returns:
      true if this is equal to the other period
      See Also:

    • hashCode

      public int hashCode()
      A hash code for this period.
      Specified by:
      hashCode in interface ChronoPeriod
      Overrides:
      hashCode in class Object
      Returns:
      a suitable hash code
      See Also:

    • toString

      public String toString()
      Outputs this period as a String, such as P6Y3M1D.

      The output will be in the ISO-8601 period format. A zero period will be represented as zero days, 'P0D'.

      Specified by:
      toString in interface ChronoPeriod
      Overrides:
      toString in class Object
      Returns:
      a string representation of this period, not null