EPLHelpers: add date comparison functions

src/main/java/EPLHelpers.java

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import org.joda.time.DateTime;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+import org.joda.time.DateTimeComparator;
 
 
 public class EPLHelpers {
@@ -10,4 +11,20 @@ public class EPLHelpers {
     public static int getHour(DateTime date) {
         return date.getHourOfDay();
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Compare two times and return true if the first is earlier than
+     * the second.
+     */
+    public static boolean earlierThan(DateTime a, DateTime b) {
+        return DateTimeComparator.getInstance().compare(a, b) < 0;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Compare two times and return true if the first is later than
+     * the second.
+     */
+    public static boolean laterThan(DateTime a, DateTime b) {
+        return DateTimeComparator.getInstance().compare(a, b) > 0;
+    }
 }