Mastering Date Internationalization: A Comparison of JavaScript Libraries

The Importance of Date Formatting

When developing applications for a global audience, date formatting becomes a crucial aspect of ensuring a seamless user experience. With different regions and cultures following unique date and time formats, it’s essential to have a robust solution in place.

JavaScript Internationalization API: A Native Solution

The JavaScript Internationalization API (Intl) provides a native solution for date internationalization. The Intl.DateTimeFormat constructor offers date and time formatting, while Intl.RelativeTimeFormat provides language-sensitive relative time phrases. Both constructors accept optional locale and options arguments, allowing for customization of the output.

const date = new Date('2022-07-25T14:30:00.000Z');
const formattedDate = new Intl.DateTimeFormat('en-US', {
  year: 'numeric',
  month: 'long',
  day: 'numeric',
  hour: '2-digit',
  minute: '2-digit',
  second: '2-digit'
}).format(date);
console.log(formattedDate); // Output: July 25, 2022, 2:30:00 PM

Luxon: A Modern Alternative

Luxon, created by a Moment.js maintainer, offers improvements over Moment.js while borrowing its ideas. Luxon acts as a wrapper for the Intl API, providing methods like toFormat() and toRelative() for date formatting and relative time calculation. Luxon supports over 200 locales and can be configured using BCP 47 locale strings.

import { DateTime } from 'luxon';
const dt = DateTime.fromISO('2022-07-25T14:30:00.000Z');
const formattedDate = dt.toFormat('yyyy LLL dd, t zzzz');
console.log(formattedDate); // Output: 2022 July 25, 2:30:00 PM EDT

Date-fns: A Lightweight Option

Date-fns is another popular JavaScript library for date processing and formatting. With over 60 locales supported, date-fns provides functions like format() and formatDistance() for date formatting and relative time calculation. Date-fns is available as an NPM package and can be used directly in browsers with a bundler like Browserify.

import { format, formatDistance } from 'date-fns';
const date = new Date('2022-07-25T14:30:00.000Z');
const formattedDate = format(date, 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss');
console.log(formattedDate); // Output: 2022-07-25 14:30:00
const distance = formatDistance(date, new Date('2022-07-25T14:35:00.000Z'));
console.log(distance); // Output: 5 minutes

Day.js: A Lightweight Alternative to Moment.js

Day.js is a lightweight library alternative to Moment.js, offering a smaller footprint and improved performance. Day.js comes with the United States English locale by default, but supports other locales through imports. The library provides a range of plugins, including AdvancedFormat, LocalizedFormat, RelativeTime, and Calendar, which add advanced formatting options and relative time calculation.

import dayjs from 'dayjs';
const date = dayjs('2022-07-25T14:30:00.000Z');
const formattedDate = date.format('YYYY MMMM D, HH:mm:ss A');
console.log(formattedDate); // Output: 2022 July 25, 2:30:00 PM

Comparison of Libraries

The following table provides a summary of the features and characteristics of each library:

• Luxon
  • Acts as a wrapper for the Intl API
  • Supports over 200 locales
  • Provides methods for date formatting and relative time calculation
• Date-fns
  • Supports over 60 locales
  • Provides functions for date formatting and relative time calculation
  • Available as an NPM package
• Day.js
  • Lightweight alternative to Moment.js
  • Smaller footprint and improved performance
  • Supports multiple locales through imports
  • Provides range of plugins for advanced formatting options and relative time calculation

By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each library, you can choose the best solution for your project’s needs.