What is date-fns?
The date-fns npm package provides a comprehensive, yet simple and consistent toolset for manipulating JavaScript dates in a browser & Node.js. It offers a variety of functions to parse, validate, manipulate, and format dates.
What are date-fns's main functionalities?
Parsing Dates
Parse strings in ISO format to JavaScript Date objects.
const parseISO = require('date-fns/parseISO');
const result = parseISO('2023-04-12');
Formatting Dates
Format Date objects into strings with a given format.
const format = require('date-fns/format');
const result = format(new Date(2023, 3, 12), 'yyyy-MM-dd');
Comparing Dates
Compare two dates to determine if one comes before the other.
const isBefore = require('date-fns/isBefore');
const result = isBefore(new Date(2023, 3, 12), new Date(2023, 3, 13));
Manipulating Dates
Perform date calculations such as adding or subtracting time spans.
const addDays = require('date-fns/addDays');
const result = addDays(new Date(2023, 3, 12), 10);
Validating Dates
Check if a date is valid.
const isValid = require('date-fns/isValid');
const result = isValid(new Date('2023-04-12'));
Other packages similar to date-fns
moment
Moment.js is a legacy project, now in maintenance mode, which provides similar functionalities for parsing, validating, manipulating, and formatting dates. It's more object-oriented and mutable compared to the functional and immutable design of date-fns.
dayjs
Day.js is a lightweight date library that offers a similar API to Moment.js but with a smaller footprint. It is immutable and chainable, like date-fns, but with a different plugin system for extending functionality.
luxon
Luxon is a powerful, modern, and chainable library for working with dates and times. It offers a rich set of features for parsing, formatting, manipulating, and querying dates. It's built on the Intl API and provides time zone support out of the box, which is more comprehensive than date-fns's approach to time zones.