I am sure this was done 1000 times in 1000 different places. The question is I want to know if there is a better/standard/faster way to check if current "time" is between two time values given in hh:mm:ss format. For example, my big business logic should not run between 18:00:00 and 18:30:00. So here is what I had in mind:

 public static  boolean isCurrentTimeBetween(String starthhmmss, String endhhmmss) throws ParseException{
  DateFormat hhmmssFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMddhh:mm:ss");
  Date now = new Date();
  String yyyMMdd = hhmmssFormat.format(now).substring(0, 8);

  return(hhmmssFormat.parse(yyyMMdd+starthhmmss).before(now) &&
    hhmmssFormat.parse(yyyMMdd+endhhmmss).after(now));
 }

Example test case:

  String doNotRunBetween="18:00:00,18:30:00";//read from props file
  String[] hhmmss = downTime.split(",");
  if(isCurrentTimeBetween(hhmmss[0], hhmmss[1])){
   System.out.println("NOT OK TO RUN");
  }else{
   System.out.println("OK TO RUN");
  }

What I am looking for is code that is better

• in performance
• in looks
• in correctness

What I am not looking for

• third-party libraries
• Exception handling debate
• variable naming conventions
• method modifier issues