Obtain the Current Date in JavaScript

JavaScript is an object-oriented and powerful programming language that is used to create interactive websites and applications. Just like a website has html and CSS as integral elements, similarly, JavaScript is also an indispensable part of a website. A website is incomplete without JavaScript coding. Programmers and developers can also format dates in JavaScript to have it displayed on websites, which is usually in a human-readable format so that users can easily understand it. Sometimes, obtaining the current date is also a part of the project.

We shed light on how you can get the current date in JavaScript. There are a few options to try out.

Ways To Get the Current Date in JavaScript

Format dates in JavaScript is important to code correctly. Here, we discuss ways to obtain the current date in the format MM/DD/YYYY in JavaScript. Check out the options you can try to get today’s date:

Option 1 – Using toLocaleDateString()

It is the easiest method that returns a string pointing to the specified Date instance following language-specified conventions. You need to use en-US to obtain MM/DD/YYYY. To do that, you just need to create new Date object with the variable equals to the new Date(). To get today’s date in month, day, and years format, variable needs to be set to to.LocalDateString(). In the end, call the log on the variable store in it on the console to obtain the output. This way, you can get the current date in JavaScript quite simply. 

You can easily implement this option to get the current date.

Option 2 – Using Date()

It is a constructor used to create a new date object defining today’s date and time. With this class, you have many utility methods that help obtain the current month, date, and year. Just like mentioned above, you have to create a var stored in the new Date(). The getDate() is used to return the day on the month, getMonth() works to return the month, getFullYear() results the full year. You need to set the variable for each, and then to get the current date in month, day, and year format, call the log on the console each with a $ sign.   

This is another way to obtain the information in the format you need.

Option 3 – Using Moment.JS

Moment.js is the library that most programmers have already installed. It is another simplest way to get the current date. In this library, the format() method is used to accept the format you want for parsing a moment. You can code using moment.js by setting up the moment as the variable stored in the require(). After this, just specify the format you want in the format(), and then call the console log to obtain the current date.

Option 4 – Get the date with the time

Most of the time you need to have display time on the website along with the current date. It is the easiest option that can help programmers get the current date and time as well. To get hours, minutes, and seconds with date, create the new Date() and store it in a variable. Use the variable to get full year, current month, and current date. For obtaining time, set the variable to get time in the hh:mm:ss format. Call both variable together to get the output you want to have.

Option 5 – Using slice()

It is a method used to obtain the date that works with the toJSON() method. The slice() helps you get the 10 characters in the beginning. You need to let currentDate set to the new Date() using toJSON and slice() from 0-10 range. When you call the log, you get the current date.  

If you are using JSON, then you can use the above method to obtain the current date.

Conclusion

We highlighted the options to obtain the current date. You need to format dates in JavaScript just the way you want. All the above options are simple yet effective to get the current date. I have used them all one by one, so it has already been tested. To learn more about Javascript, please visit the website LearnShareIT – Let’s learn about programming languages