how to compare two string dates in javascript?

You can simply compare 2 strings

function isLater(dateString1, dateString2) {
  return dateString1 > dateString2
}

Then

isLater("2012-12-01", "2012-11-01")

returns true while

isLater("2012-12-01", "2013-11-01")

returns false


var d1 = Date.parse("2012-11-01");
var d2 = Date.parse("2012-11-04");
if (d1 < d2) {
    alert ("Error!");
}

Demo Jsfiddle

Recently found out from a comment you can directly compare strings like below

if ("2012-11-01" < "2012-11-04") {
    alert ("Error!");
}

Parse the dates and compare them as you would numbers:

function isLater(str1, str2)
{
    return new Date(str1) > new Date(str2);
}

If you need to support other date format consider a library such as date.js.