Well, the linked wiki pages contain examples...
But if they are not clear:
For comparison just use the data as it is. Leave it long (like 1378159200000), as it can be compared.
If you want to see/check what is the 'real' date behind this millisecond value, use SimpleDateFormat:
long argument_1 = 1378159200000l;
private SimpleDateFormat sdf;
sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd_HHmmss"); // but the format can be whatever you prefer
sdf.setTimeZone(TimeZone.getTimeZone("GMT"));
console.getOut().println(sdf.format(argument_1));
If you really need a complete strategy, look around on the wiki. There are plenty of examples where the SimpleDateFormat is used (for example
here).
Good luck!