Java string to date

JavaStringToDate

birthdate_s = "21/07/2013"
SimpleDateFormat df = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy");
Date birthdate = new Date();
try {  
    birthdate  =  df.parse(birthdate_s);
} catch (ParseException ex) {
    Logger.getLogger(MainScreen.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}