android string date,Android, How can I Convert String to Date?

I store current time in database each time application starts by user.

Calendar c = Calendar.getInstance();

String str = c.getTime().toString();

Log.i("Current time", str);

In database side, I store current time as string (as you see in above code). Therefore, when I load it from database, I need to cast it to Date object. I saw some samples that all of them had used "DateFormat". But my format is exactly as same as Date format. So, I think there is no need to use "DateFormat". Am I right?

Is there anyway to directly cast this String to Date object? I want to compare this stored time with current time.

Thanks

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update

Thanks dear guys. I used following code:

private boolean isPackageExpired(String date){

boolean isExpired=false;

Date expiredDate = stringToDate(date, "EEE MMM d HH:mm:ss zz yyyy");

if (new Date().after(expiredDate)) isExpired=true;

return isExpired;

}

private Date stringToDate(String aDate,String aFormat) {

if(aDate==null) return null;

ParsePosition pos = new ParsePosition(0);

SimpleDateFormat simpledateformat = new SimpleDateFormat(aFormat);

Date stringDate = simpledateformat.parse(aDate, pos);

return stringDate;

}