public Date getDate(String k, SimpleDateFormat format, Date defaultValue) {
    if (!containsKey(k))
      return defaultValue;

    try {
      return format.parse(get(k));
    } catch (ParseException e) {
      throw new ConfigException("Date format exception.", e);
    }
  }
Store and retrieve named, typed values as configuration for classes implementing this interface.
samza-api/src/main/java/org/apache/samza/config/Config.java