diff --git a/core-groovy/pom.xml b/core-groovy/pom.xml
index e54c7662803a..029e5460abdd 100644
--- a/core-groovy/pom.xml
+++ b/core-groovy/pom.xml
@@ -23,6 +23,12 @@
             <groupId>org.codehaus.groovy</groupId>
             <artifactId>groovy-all</artifactId>
             <version>${groovy-all.version}</version>
+            <type>pom</type>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.codehaus.groovy</groupId>
+            <artifactId>groovy-dateutil</artifactId>
+            <version>${groovy.version}</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.codehaus.groovy</groupId>
@@ -103,9 +109,12 @@
 
     <properties>
         <junit.platform.version>1.0.0</junit.platform.version>
-        <groovy.version>2.4.13</groovy.version>
-        <groovy-all.version>2.4.13</groovy-all.version>
-        <groovy-sql.version>2.4.13</groovy-sql.version>
+<!--         <groovy.version>2.4.13</groovy.version> -->
+<!--         <groovy-all.version>2.4.13</groovy-all.version> -->
+<!--         <groovy-sql.version>2.4.13</groovy-sql.version> -->
+        <groovy.version>2.5.6</groovy.version>
+        <groovy-all.version>2.5.6</groovy-all.version>
+        <groovy-sql.version>2.5.6</groovy-sql.version>
         <hsqldb.version>2.4.0</hsqldb.version>
         <spock-core.version>1.1-groovy-2.4</spock-core.version>
         <gmavenplus-plugin.version>1.6</gmavenplus-plugin.version>
diff --git a/core-groovy/src/test/groovy/com/baeldung/date/DateTest.groovy b/core-groovy/src/test/groovy/com/baeldung/date/DateTest.groovy
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4e7a7189a62f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core-groovy/src/test/groovy/com/baeldung/date/DateTest.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+package com.baeldung.groovy.sql
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*
+import java.util.Calendar.*
+import java.time.LocalDate 
+import java.text.SimpleDateFormat 
+import org.junit.Test
+
+
+class DateTest {
+
+    def dateStr = "2019-02-28"
+    def pattern = "yyyy-MM-dd"  
+
+    @Test
+    void whenGetStringRepresentation_thenCorrectlyConvertIntoDate() {
+        def dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat(pattern)
+        def date = dateFormat.parse(dateStr)
+                
+        println("       String to Date with DateFormatter : " + date)
+
+        def cal = new GregorianCalendar();
+        cal.setTime(date);
+
+        assertEquals(cal.get(Calendar.YEAR),2019)
+        assertEquals(cal.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH),28)
+        assertEquals(cal.get(Calendar.MONTH),java.util.Calendar.FEBRUARY)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void whenGetStringRepresentation_thenCorrectlyConvertWithDateUtilsExtension() {
+    
+        def date = Date.parse(pattern, dateStr)
+                
+        println("       String to Date with Date.parse : " + date)
+    
+        def cal = new GregorianCalendar();
+        cal.setTime(date);
+
+        assertEquals(cal.get(Calendar.YEAR),2019)
+        assertEquals(cal.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH),28)
+        assertEquals(cal.get(Calendar.MONTH),java.util.Calendar.FEBRUARY)
+    }    
+
+    @Test
+    void whenGetStringRepresentation_thenCorrectlyConvertIntoDateWithLocalDate() {
+        def date = LocalDate.parse(dateStr, pattern)
+
+        println("       String to Date with LocalDate     : " + date)
+
+        assertEquals(date.getYear(),2019)
+        assertEquals(date.getMonth(),java.time.Month.FEBRUARY)
+        assertEquals(date.getDayOfMonth(),28)
+    }
+
+
+}