When comparing two dates and or times, we cannot simply compare them as strings. Javascript gives us the ability to use a built-in function in order to properly compare them.

Examples

const date1 = new Date(); //Current date and time
const date2 = new Date(0); //Date since epoch ("Wed Dec 31 1969 19:00:00")

console.log(date1.toString() > date2.toString() ? true : false); // false

In the above example, we will get an incorrect answer when comparing these to dates and times as it is comparing them as strings. If we compare those same dates and times by converting them to time, we can now compare them properly. In order to do this, we will use the getTime() method:

const date1 = new Date(); //Current date and time
const date2 = new Date(0); //Date since epoch ("Wed Dec 31 1969 19:00:00")

console.log(date1.getTime() > date2.getTime() ? true : false); // true

As you can see, when we use the getTime() method, we can then properly compare these two dates and times and get the correct answer which is that the current date and time is greater than the date and time since the epoch.