How to choose correct date type for spring controller?

Question

I need to implement endpoint like that:

@GetMapping("/localdatetime")
public SomeObhject dateTime(@RequestParam("localDateTime") LocalDateTime date) {

By date it should query smth from database and return to the client.

My question is which date type should I use ?

• LocalDateTime
• ZonedDatetime
• OffsetDateTime

?

Something else ?

Which advantages and disadvantage ?

AFAIK the best way to pass date - is pass it in the UTC format but it doesn't answer my question directly.

Answer 1

LocalDateTime does not keep the time zone info, and thus could not be converted to an exact moment in time without providing additional info - time zone. OffsetDateTime and ZonedDatetime both hold the time zone info, ZonedDatetime holds a bit more info, read about it in the Javadoc. If your application does not need to take into account timezone (for instance it is an app for localized use and all the times assumed to be always in local time zone), then working with LocalDateTime is simpler than the others plus others will hold some redundant info. But if you do need to take into account the timezone then you need one of the two that hold this info. I personally prefer to work with ZonedDatetime if I need to take time zone into account