Is Core Library Desugaring the holy grail?

As a mobile developer you most probably had to parse dates and maybe even consider different time zones and daylight saving times. Many apps still make use of java.util.Date, java.util.Calendar and java.text.SimpleDateFormat classes. These are legacy classes with a long history in the Java world, which were replaced with the Date and Time API (JSR-310) in Java 8.

Disclaimer: This article is not a tutorial on how to implement different Date / Time libraries. The goal is to compare the current options and give advice on which to choose.

Time to switch

If your minSDK is below 26 (Android 8.0) you can’t simply use Java 8 APIs. Since most apps probably have to support older Android versions for some years, I will show you current alternatives, their impact on dex count, APK size and other pros and cons. …