Node.js
Date methods
Learn getDate, getMonth and getFullYear methods.
Date methods
You access a Date object's components with methods. getFullYear() returns the four-digit year; getMonth() the month as a zero-based number (January=0, December=11); getDate() the day of the month.
Example: for new Date("2024-03-15"), getFullYear() returns 2024, getMonth() returns 2 (March), getDate() returns 15. For time there are getHours(), getMinutes(), getSeconds(). These methods work in the local timezone; for UTC use getUTCFullYear(), getUTCMonth(), getUTCDate(). For deterministic test output prefer the UTC methods. getDay() returns the day of the week (Sunday=0).
UTC methods
Local methods depend on the machine's timezone; they give different results in different countries. UTC methods (getUTCFullYear, getUTCMonth, getUTCDate) give the same result everywhere.
Example: for new Date("2024-03-15T00:00:00Z"), getUTCDate() is always 15. getDate() may be 15 in Istanbul (+3) but 14 in New York (-5). This is why test code uses UTC methods. Since the month is zero-based, you usually add 1 when displaying: getUTCMonth() + 1. Date formatting is the topic of the next lesson with Intl.DateTimeFormat; here we only pull components.
Exercise Combine date components
Define const date = new Date("2024-03-15T00:00:00Z");. Print in day.month.year format with console.log(date.getUTCDate() + "." + (date.getUTCMonth() + 1) + "." + date.getUTCFullYear()).
Show example solution
const date = new Date("2024-03-15T00:00:00:00Z");
console.log(date.getUTCDate() + "." + (date.getUTCMonth() + 1) + "." + date.getUTCFullYear());
Test yourself
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Complete the getFullYear call
const yil = date.____();
Show answer
const yil = date.getFullYear();
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Match each method to its returned value
- getUTCFullYear
- Year (2024)
- getUTCMonth
- Month (March=2)
- getUTCDate
- Day of month (15)
- getUTCDay
- Day of week
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What does new Date("2024-03-15T00:00:00Z").getUTCMonth() return?
new Date("2024-03-15T00:00:00Z").getUTCMonth()
Show answer
2 — March returns 2 because months are zero-based.
Next lesson: Intl.DateTimeFormat
