public class Time { public static boolean timeCheck(String time) { String regex = "^( ?: [01] \\d | 2[0-3] ) : [0-5]\\d$"; boolean formatRichtig = false; if (time == null) { formatRichtig = false; } else if (time.length() != 5 || time.charAt(2) != ':') { formatRichtig = false; } else { if (time.matches(regex)) { formatRichtig = true; } } return formatRichtig; } public static void main(String[] args) { System.out.println("23:56 \n abc"); System.out.println(timeCheck(null)); } }