Property/method

Description

Date.parse(string)

Similar to passing a string to new Date() constructor, this method parses the input string in attempt to extract a valid date value. Returns a timestamp on success, NaN on failure:

    > Date.parse('May 5, 2015');   
    1430809200000   
    > Date.parse('4th');   
    NaN   

Date.UTC(year, month, date, hours, minutes, seconds, ms)

Returns a timestamp but in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), not in local time.

    > Date.UTC 
    (2015, 0, 1, 13, 30, 35, 505);
    1420119035505   

Property/method

Description/example

toUTCString()

Same as toString() but in universal time. Here's how Pacific Standard (PST) local time differs from UTC:

    > var d = new Date(2015, 0, 1);   
    > d.toString();   
    "Thu Jan 01 2015 00:00:00 GMT-0800 (PST)"   
    > d.toUTCString();   
    "Thu, 01 Jan 2015 08:00:00   GMT"   

toDateString()

Returns only the date portion of toString():

    > new Date(2015, 0,   1).toDateString();   
    "Thu Jan 01 2010"   

toTimeString()

Returns only the time portion of toString():

    > new Date(2015, 0,   1).toTimeString();   
    "00:00:00 GMT-0800 (PST)"   

toLocaleString()

toLocaleDateString()

toLocaleTimeString()

Equivalent to toString(), toDateString(), and toTimeString() respectively, but in a friendlier format, according to the current user's locale:

    > new Date(2015, 0,   1).toString();   
    "Thu Jan 01 2015 00:00:00 GMT-0800   (PST)"   
    > new Date(2015, 0,   1).toLocaleString();   
    "1/1/2015 12:00:00 AM"   

getTime()

setTime(time)

Get or set the time (using a timestamp) of a date object. The following example creates a date and moves it one day forward:

    > var d = new Date(2015, 0, 1);   
    > d.getTime();   
    1420099200000   
    > d.setTime(d.getTime() +
     1000 * 60 * 60 *   24);   
    1420185600000   
    > d.toLocaleString();   
    "Fri Jan 02 2015 00:00:00  
      GMT-0800 (PST)"   

getFullYear()

getUTCFullYear()

setFullYear(year, month, date)

setUTCFullYear(year, month, date)

Get or set a full year using local or UTC time. There is also getYear() but it is not Y2K compliant, so use getFullYear() instead:

    > var d = new Date(2015, 0, 1);   
    > d.getYear();   
    115   
    > d.getFullYear();   
    2015   
    > d.setFullYear(2020);   
    1577865600000   
    > d;   
    Wed Jan 01 2020 00:00:00 GMT-0800 
      (PST)   

getMonth()

getUTCMonth()

setMonth(month, date)

setUTCMonth(month, date)

Get or set month, starting from 0 (January):

    > var d = new Date(2015, 0, 1);   
    > d.getMonth();   
    0   
    > d.setMonth(11);   
    1448956800000   
    > d.toLocaleDateString();   
    "12/1/2015"   

getDate()

getUTCDate()

setDate(date)

setUTCDate(date)

Get or set date of the month.

    > var d = new Date(2015, 0, 1);   
    > d.toLocaleDateString();   
    "1/1/2015"   
    > d.getDate();   
    1   
    > d.setDate(31);   
    1422691200000   
    > d.toLocaleDateString();   
    "1/31/2015"   

getHours()

getUTCHours()

setHours(hour, min, sec, ms)

setUTCHours(hour, min, sec, ms)

getMinutes()

getUTCMinutes()

setMinutes(min, sec, ms)

setUTCMinutes(min, sec, ms)

getSeconds()

getUTCSeconds()

setSeconds(sec, ms)

setUTCSeconds(sec, ms)

getMilliseconds()

getUTCMilliseconds()

setMilliseconds(ms)

setUTCMilliseconds(ms)

Get/Set hour, minutes, seconds, milliseconds, all starting from 0:

    > var d = new Date(2015, 0, 1);   
    > d.getHours() + ':' + d.getMinutes();   
    "0:0"   
    > d.setMinutes(59);   
    1420102740000   
    > d.getHours() + ':' + d.getMinutes();   
    "0:59"   

getTimezoneOffset()

Returns the difference between local and universal (UTC) time, measured in minutes. For example the difference between PST (Pacific Standard Time) and UTC:

    > new   Date().getTimezoneOffset();   
    480   
    > 420 / 60; // hours   
    8   

getDay()

getUTCDay()

Returns the day of the week, starting from 0 (Sunday):

    > var d = new Date(2015, 0, 1);      
    > d.toDateString();   
    "Thu Jan 01 2015"   
    > d.getDay();   
    4   
    > var d = new Date(2015, 0, 4);      
    > d.toDateString();   
    "Sat Jan 04 2015"   
    > d.getDay();   
    0   

Property/method

Description

Date.now()

A convenient way to get the current timestamp:

    > Date.now() === new   Date().getTime();   
    true   

Date.prototype.toISOString()

Yet another toString():

    > var d = new Date(2015, 0, 1);   
    > d.toString();   
    "Thu Jan 01 2015 00:00:00 GMT-0800
     (PST)" 
    > d.toUTCString();   
    "Thu, 01 Jan 2015 08:00:00   GMT"   
    > d.toISOString();   
    "2015-01-01T00:00:00.000Z"   

Date.prototype.toJSON()

Used by JSON.stringify() (refer to the end of this appendix) and returns the same as toISOString():

    > var d = new Date();   
    > d.toJSON() === d.toISOString();   
    true