JSON date parser

annotated.js

function(
 a                                                         // The JSON encoded date string
)
{
 return (                                                  // The returns only date if it can chunk it
    a=/(\d+)-(\d+)-(\d+)T(\d+):(\d+):(\d+).(\d+)/.exec(a)  // Execute the chunking regular expression
 ) 
  ,                                                        // last value behind the , is returned
    new Date(                                              // Create a new date
      Date.UTC.apply(                                      // with the UTC method
        a[2]--                                             // Subtracts  1 from the month
       ,a.slice(1)                                         // Removes the parsed string from the result
       )
     )
}

example.js

var parser = function(a){return(a=/(\d+)-(\d+)-(\d+)T(\d+):(\d+):(\d+).(\d+)/.exec(a)),new Date(Date.UTC.apply(a[2]--,a.slice(1)))}
  , date = new Date
  , jsondate = date.toJSON();

console.log(parser(jsondate)); // Fri May 20 2011 14:26:43 GMT+0200 (CEST)
console.log(parser(jsondate).toJSON() == jsondate); // true
console.log(Object.prototype.toString.call(parser(jsondate))); // > [object Date]

index.js

function(a){return(a=/(\d+)-(\d+)-(\d+)T(\d+):(\d+):(\d+).(\d+)/.exec(a)),new Date(Date.UTC.apply(a[2]--,a.slice(1)))}

LICENSE.txt

Copyright (c) 2011 Arnout Kazemier, <http://blog.3rd-Eden.com>
 
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
"Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
the following conditions:
 
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
 
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

package.json

{
  "name": "jsondate",
  "description": "Parses a JSON.stringify'd date back to a regular Date object",
  "keywords": [
    "date",
    "json",
    "parse",
    "stringify" 
  ]
}

Can't you parse JSON dates with just new Date(JSON date string)? What's the benefit of this?

Nope, it not supported by all browsers. For example, it does work in the latest Chrome but safari fails to parse that correctly.