Java Utililty Methods Date from String

try {
    return dateFormat.parse(str);
} catch (ParseException e) {
    return null;

SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MM-yyyy");
if (date != null && !date.isEmpty()) {
    return sdf.parse(date);
return null;

Date utilDate = null;
if (isDatePopulated(dateAsString)) {
    DateFormat df = DateFormat.getInstance();
    df.setLenient(false);
    SimpleDateFormat sf = (SimpleDateFormat) df;
    sf.applyPattern("dd/MM/yyyy");
    utilDate = sf.parse(dateAsString);
return utilDate;

SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat(DATEFORMAT);
Date date = sdf.parse(dateString);
return date;

if (dateString == null || dateString.length() == 0)
    return null;
SimpleDateFormat sdf;
boolean defaultFlag = false;
if (format != null && format.length() > 0) {
    sdf = new SimpleDateFormat(format);
} else {
    sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("MM/dd/yyyy");
...

if (dateString == null || dateString.trim().isEmpty()) {
    return null;
if (pattern == null || pattern.isEmpty()) {
    throw new Exception("convertToDate failed: pattern cannot be null or empty");
try {
    SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat(pattern);
...

SimpleDateFormat format = new SimpleDateFormat("ddMMyy");
format.setLenient(false);
Date date = null;
date = format.parse(ddMMyy);
return date;

Date date = null;
for (SimpleDateFormat format : dateFormats) {
    format.setLenient(false);
    try {
        if (inDate.length() < 12 && format.toPattern().length() < 12) {
            date = format.parse(inDate.trim());
        } else if (inDate.length() > 12 && format.toPattern().length() > 12) {
            date = format.parse(inDate.trim());
...

Date date = null;
if (null == input) {
    return null;
for (SimpleDateFormat format : dateFormats) {
    try {
        format.setLenient(false);
        date = format.parse(input);
...

if (str == null)
    return null;
SimpleDateFormat sdf1 = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd");
SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMdd");
return sdf.format(sdf1.parse(str));