Working with Date and Time in Java: The java.time Package

Before Java 8, working with dates was a nightmare. `java.util.Date` was mutable and had terrible design decisions. I remember trying to add a day to a date and accidentally modifying the original object. The `java.time` API (JSR-310) fixed all of that. `LocalDate`, `LocalTime`, `LocalDateTime`, and `ZonedDateTime` are immutable and thread-safe. I use them religiously now. One thing that trips people up: `LocalDateTime` doesn’t store time zone info. If you’re scheduling a global event, use `ZonedDateTime` or `Instant`. Also, parsing dates is now a breeze with `DateTimeFormatter`. You can even define your own patterns, but the predefined formatters cover most use cases. If you’re still using `SimpleDateFormat`, please stop. It’s not thread-safe, and it’s just asking for bugs in production.