JavaScript is a powerful and versatile programming language that can be used in a variety of web application development tasks. One common use case in web development is working with dates and times, and in particular, extracting the year from a given date. In this article, we'll explore the different ways to get the year from a date in JavaScript and provide code examples to help you get started.
Getting Year from Date in JavaScript
JavaScript provides several built-in methods to get the year from a given date. Below we'll cover the most commonly used ones.
- getFullYear()
The getFullYear() method is used to get the year from a date object. It returns the year in four digits.
Here's an example of using getFullYear() to get the year from a date:
const date = new Date('2022-03-22'); // create a new date object
const year = date.getFullYear(); // get the year from the date object
console.log(year); // output: 2022
In the above code, we created a new Date object with the date '2022-03-22'. Then, we used the getFullYear() method to get the year from the date object and store it in the variable year. Finally, we printed the value of the year variable to the console.
- getYear()
The getYear() method is similar to getFullYear(), but it returns the year in two digits. This method is deprecated and should not be used in new JavaScript applications.
const date = new Date('2022-03-22'); // create a new date object
const year = date.getYear(); // get the year from the date object
console.log(year); // output: 122
In the above code, we used the getYear() method to get the year from the date object. Notice that the year is returned as two digits (122 instead of 2022), which can cause confusion and errors.
- getUTCFullYear()
The getUTCFullYear() method is used to get the UTC year from a date object. It returns the year in four digits, just like getFullYear().
Here's an example of using getUTCFullYear() to get the UTC year from a date:
const date = new Date('2022-03-22'); // create a new date object
const year = date.getUTCFullYear(); // get the UTC year from the date object
console.log(year); // output: 2022
In the above code, we used the getUTCFullYear() method to get the UTC year from the date object. This method is useful when working with internationalization and time zones in JavaScript applications.
- split() method
Apart from the above-mentioned built-in methods, we can also use the split() method to get the year from a date string.
Here's an example of using the split() method to get the year from a date string:
const date = '2022-03-22';
const year = date.split('-')[0];
console.log(year); // output: 2022
In the above code, we used the split() method to split the date string '2022-03-22' into an array of strings separated by '-'. Then, we accessed the first element of the array to get the year (2022).
Conclusion
In this article, we explored the different ways to get the year from a date in JavaScript. We covered built-in methods such as getFullYear(), getYear(), and getUTCFullYear(), and also demonstrated how to use the split() method to get the year from a date string. By understanding these methods, you can effectively work with dates in your JavaScript projects. Happy coding!
Sure! Let's dive deeper into each of the topics covered in the previous article.
- getFullYear()
The getFullYear() method is used to get the year from a date object in JavaScript. It returns the year in four digits. The syntax for using the getFullYear() method is as follows:
dateObj.getFullYear()
Here 'dateObj' is the date object whose year we want to extract. When called on a date object, this method returns the year as a four-digit number.
It's important to note that the getFullYear() method returns the local year based on the timezone settings of the computer running the JavaScript code. If you want to get the year based on GMT or UTC time, you can use the getUTCFullYear() method instead.
- getYear()
The getYear() method is similar to getFullYear(). However, it returns the year in two digits instead of four digits. It is recommended not to use this method anymore as it is deprecated. Instead, you should use the getFullYear() method to extract the year from a date object.
dateObj.getYear()
As you can see, the syntax for using the getYear() method is similar to the getFullYear() method.
One thing to note is that the getYear() method returns the year minus 1900. For instance, if the year is 2022, the method would return 122 (2022 – 1900). This makes it confusing and is one of the reasons why it's been deprecated.
- getUTCFullYear()
The getUTCFullYear() method is used to get the UTC year from a date object in JavaScript. It returns the year in four digits.
dateObj.getUTCFullYear()
The syntax for using this method is similar to the getFullYear() method, but instead of returning the local year based on the time zone settings of the user's computer, it returns the year based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). UTC is the primary time standard used worldwide.
You can use the getUTCFullYear() method when working with time zones and internationalization in your JavaScript applications.
- split() method
The split() method is a built-in JavaScript method that is used to split a string into an array of substrings based on a specified separator. We can use the split() method to split a date string and extract the year.
const date = '2022-03-22';
const year = date.split('-')[0];
In the above code, we split the date string '2022-03-22' into three parts using the '-' symbol as the separator. Since the first part of the string is the year, we access it using array notation (i.e., [0]) and store it in the year variable.
One thing to note is that the split() method returns an array of strings. Therefore, we must access the first element of the array to get the year.
Conclusion
In conclusion, extracting the year from a date object in JavaScript is a common task in web development. There are multiple ways to achieve this, including using built-in methods such as getFullYear(), getYear(), and getUTCFullYear(), or using the split() method to extract the year from a date string. Knowing the differences between these methods and when to use them can help you become a more efficient developer.
Popular questions
- What is the difference between getFullYear() and getYear()?
- getFullYear() returns the year in four digits and is recommended over getYear(), which is deprecated and returns the year in two digits.
- What is the purpose of getUTCFullYear()?
- getUTCFullYear() is used to get the UTC year from a date object in JavaScript and returns the year in four digits.
- Can we use the split() method to extract the year from a date string?
- Yes, we can use the split() method to split the date string into an array of substrings and extract the year from the first element of the array.
- Why is it important to consider time zones when working with dates in JavaScript?
- Time zones can affect the actual date and year displayed in different regions. Therefore, taking time zones into consideration ensures accurate results.
- Is it possible to extract only the month or day from a date object in JavaScript?
- Yes, we can use built-in methods such as getMonth() and getDate() to extract the month or day from a date object.
Tag
"Yearify"
