Unix Timestamp in Scala

Scala runs on the JVM and shares Java's time libraries. Use java.time.Instant (preferred since Java 8) or System.currentTimeMillis() for Unix timestamps. The Scala standard library has no dedicated time API.

Code Examples

Current timestamp (seconds)

import java.time.Instant
Instant.now().getEpochSecond

java.time.Instant is the modern, idiomatic approach. getEpochSecond returns a Long representing seconds since the Unix epoch.

Current timestamp (milliseconds)

System.currentTimeMillis()

Returns milliseconds since the Unix epoch as a Long. Equivalent to Instant.now().toEpochMilli — slightly faster as it bypasses the Instant object.

Convert timestamp to Instant

import java.time.Instant
val instant = Instant.ofEpochSecond(1708560000L)

Reconstruct an Instant from a Unix timestamp in seconds. Use ofEpochMilli for millisecond-precision inputs.

Format timestamp as date string

import java.time.{Instant, ZoneOffset}
import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter
val fmt = DateTimeFormatter.ISO_LOCAL_DATE_TIME.withZone(ZoneOffset.UTC)
fmt.format(Instant.now())

Format the current instant as an ISO 8601 string in UTC. Replace ZoneOffset.UTC with ZoneId.of("America/New_York") for local time.

Using scala.concurrent.duration (relative)

import scala.concurrent.duration._
val d = 5.minutes
println(d.toSeconds) // 300

FiniteDuration is useful for relative time calculations (timeouts, delays) but does not represent Unix timestamps. Combine with System.currentTimeMillis() for deadline logic.

Note

Scala's JVM heritage means java.time.Instant is the idiomatic, thread-safe choice for Unix timestamps. Avoid the legacy java.util.Date and java.util.Calendar APIs — they're mutable and have timezone quirks. If you're on Scala.js, use js.Date.now() instead.

Related Languages

Unix timestamp in Java →Unix timestamp in Kotlin →Unix timestamp in Go →

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