Help finding this error!!

Question

could some one please help me with finding this one error.. i dont understand the problem.. this is the error
C:\dateDiff.java:1: 'class' or 'interface' expected
public static long dateDiff (Date dateX, Date dateY) {
^
1 error
this is the code
public static long dateDiff (Date dateX, Date dateY) {
long difference = reducePrecision(dateX, Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH).getTime() -
reducePrecision(dateY, Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH).getTime();
long daysBetween = (difference + MILLIS_IN_DAY / 2) / MILLIS_IN_DAY;
return daysBetween;
private static Date reducePrecision (Date date, int maxPrecision) {
Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
cal.setTime(date);
switch (maxPrecision) {
case Calendar.YEAR:
cal.set(Calendar.MONTH, 0);
case Calendar.MONTH:
cal.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, 1);
case Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH:
cal.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 0);
case Calendar.HOUR:
cal.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 0);
cal.set(Calendar.AM_PM, Calendar.AM);
case Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY:
cal.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 0);
case Calendar.MINUTE:
cal.set(Calendar.SECOND, 0);
case Calendar.SECOND:
cal.set(Calendar.MILLISECOND, 0);
break;
default:
throw new IllegalArgumentException(
"Unsupported maxPrecision: " + maxPrecision);
return cal.getTime();

Answer 1

The start of a class definition must begin with a class declaration (package and import statements notwithstanding). Example:public class DateUtil {
    // your class members
}