Compare two dates with JavaScript

The easiest way to compare dates in javascript is to first convert it to a Date object and then compare these date-objects.

Below you find an object with three functions:

• dates.compare(a,b)

  Returns a number:

  • -1 if a < b
  • 0 if a = b
  • 1 if a > b
  • NaN if a or b is an illegal date

• dates.inRange (d,start,end)

  Returns a boolean or NaN:

  • true if d is between the start and end (inclusive)
  • false if d is before start or after end.
  • NaN if one or more of the dates are illegal.

• dates.convert

  Used by the other functions to convert their input to a date object. The input can be

  • a date-object : The input is returned as is.
  • an array: Interpreted as [year,month,day]. NOTE month is 0-11.
  • a number : Interpreted as number of milliseconds since 1 Jan 1970 (a timestamp)
  • a string : Several different formats is supported, like "YYYY/MM/DD", "MM/DD/YYYY", "Jan 31 2009" etc.
  • an object: Interpreted as an object with year, month and date attributes. NOTE month is 0-11.

.

// Source: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/497790
var dates = {
    convert:function(d) {
        // Converts the date in d to a date-object. The input can be:
        //   a date object: returned without modification
        //  an array      : Interpreted as [year,month,day]. NOTE: month is 0-11.
        //   a number     : Interpreted as number of milliseconds
        //                  since 1 Jan 1970 (a timestamp) 
        //   a string     : Any format supported by the javascript engine, like
        //                  "YYYY/MM/DD", "MM/DD/YYYY", "Jan 31 2009" etc.
        //  an object     : Interpreted as an object with year, month and date
        //                  attributes.  **NOTE** month is 0-11.
        return (
            d.constructor === Date ? d :
            d.constructor === Array ? new Date(d[0],d[1],d[2]) :
            d.constructor === Number ? new Date(d) :
            d.constructor === String ? new Date(d) :
            typeof d === "object" ? new Date(d.year,d.month,d.date) :
            NaN
        );
    },
    compare:function(a,b) {
        // Compare two dates (could be of any type supported by the convert
        // function above) and returns:
        //  -1 : if a < b
        //   0 : if a = b
        //   1 : if a > b
        // NaN : if a or b is an illegal date
        // NOTE: The code inside isFinite does an assignment (=).
        return (
            isFinite(a=this.convert(a).valueOf()) &&
            isFinite(b=this.convert(b).valueOf()) ?
            (a>b)-(a<b) :
            NaN
        );
    },
    inRange:function(d,start,end) {
        // Checks if date in d is between dates in start and end.
        // Returns a boolean or NaN:
        //    true  : if d is between start and end (inclusive)
        //    false : if d is before start or after end
        //    NaN   : if one or more of the dates is illegal.
        // NOTE: The code inside isFinite does an assignment (=).
       return (
            isFinite(d=this.convert(d).valueOf()) &&
            isFinite(start=this.convert(start).valueOf()) &&
            isFinite(end=this.convert(end).valueOf()) ?
            start <= d && d <= end :
            NaN
        );
    }
}

Compare < and > just as usual, but anything involving = should use a + prefix. Like so:

var x = new Date('2013-05-23');
var y = new Date('2013-05-23');

// less than, greater than is fine:
x < y; => false
x > y; => false
x === y; => false, oops!

// anything involving '=' should use the '+' prefix
// it will then compare the dates' millisecond values
+x <= +y;  => true
+x >= +y;  => true
+x === +y; => true

The relational operators < <= > >= can be used to compare JavaScript dates:

var d1 = new Date(2013, 0, 1);
var d2 = new Date(2013, 0, 2);
d1 <  d2; // true
d1 <= d2; // true
d1 >  d2; // false
d1 >= d2; // false

However, the equality operators == != === !== cannot be used to compare (the value of) dates because:

• Two distinct objects are never equal for either strict or abstract comparisons.
• An expression comparing Objects is only true if the operands reference the same Object.

You can compare the value of dates for equality using any of these methods:

var d1 = new Date(2013, 0, 1);
var d2 = new Date(2013, 0, 1);
/*
 * note: d1 == d2 returns false as described above
 */
d1.getTime() == d2.getTime(); // true
d1.valueOf() == d2.valueOf(); // true
Number(d1)   == Number(d2);   // true
+d1          == +d2;          // true

Both Date.getTime() and Date.valueOf() return the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00 UTC. Both Number function and unary + operator call the valueOf() methods behind the scenes.

By far the easiest method is to subtract one date from the other and compare the result.

var oDateOne = new Date();
var oDateTwo = new Date();

alert(oDateOne - oDateTwo === 0);
alert(oDateOne - oDateTwo < 0);
alert(oDateOne - oDateTwo > 0);

Comparing dates in JavaScript is quite easy... JavaScript has built-in comparison system for dates which makes it so easy to do the comparison...

Just follow these steps for comparing 2 dates value, for example you have 2 inputs which each has a Date value in String and you to compare them...

1. you have 2 string values you get from an input and you'd like to compare them, they are as below:

var date1 = '01/12/2018';
var date2 = '12/12/2018';

2. They need to be Date Object to be compared as date values, so simply convert them to date, using new Date(), I just re-assign them for simplicity of explanation, but you can do it anyway you like:

date1 = new Date(date1);
date2 = new Date(date2);

3. Now simply compare them, using the > < >= <=

date1 > date2;  //false
date1 < date2;  //true
date1 >= date2; //false
date1 <= date2; //true