Java Comparator

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Java Comparator
TyAnthoney Morrell Follow
Mar 20, 2019 · 3 min read
Photo by Maximilian Weisbecker on Unsplash
Some of the time in Java it is desirable to sort classes that you have
written yourself. When this is necessary we can use the Java Comparator
Interface to implement our custom sorts.
When implementing the Comparator Interface you must override the

abstract method compare.
public int compare(Object a, Object b);
This is the method that will hold the code you wish to be executed in your
custom sorting.
Let’s assume that we are writing an application that will contain lists of
customers and that you would need to be sorting these customers for
various reasons. We can start out with a Customer class like the one
below:
public class Customer {
private Integer customerID;

private String fName, lName;
// getters and setters omitted
We can write three different classes for sorting this data: the first would
be for the employee ID;
public class CustomerIDSort implements Comparator<Customer> {
@Override
public int compare(Customer a, Customer b) {
return a.getCustomerID().compareTo(b.getCustomerID());
the second would be for the last name;
public class LastNameSort implements Comparator<Customer> {
@Override
return a.getlName().compareTo(b.getlName());
and the third for the first name.
public class FirstNameSort implements Comparator<Customer> {
@Override
return a.getfName().compareTo(b.getfName());
We can use these classes to sort a list using Collections.sort like in the
main method below
public static void main(String[] args) {
List<Customer> customers = new ArrayList<>();
customers.add(new Customer(4, "Steve", "Pink"));

customers.add(new Customer(3, "Tim", "Orange"));
customers.add(new Customer(1, "Edward", "Blue"));
customers.add(new Customer(9, "Harvey", "White"));
customers.add(new Customer(2, "Quentin", "Brown"));
customers.add(new Customer(12, "Michael", "Blonde"));
System.out.println("Before sorting");
for (Customer customer : customers) {
System.out.println(customer.toString());
// sort by cutomer id
Collections.sort(customers, new CustomerIDSort());
System.out.println("\nSorted by CustomerID");
// sort by last name

Collections.sort(customers, new LastNameSort());
System.out.println("\nSorted by last name");
// sort by first name

Collections.sort(customers, new FirstNameSort());
System.out.println("\nSorted by first name");
Output
Before sorting
Customer{customerID=4, fName=Steve, lName=Pink}
Customer{customerID=3, fName=Tim, lName=Orange}
Customer{customerID=1, fName=Edward, lName=Blue}
Customer{customerID=9, fName=Harvey, lName=White}
Customer{customerID=2, fName=Quentin, lName=Brown}
Customer{customerID=12, fName=Michael, lName=Blonde}
Sorted by CustomerID
Sorted by last name

Sorted by first name

If you are using Java 8 you can actually sort the above list or any other
list for that matter using a lambda expression instead of a class. Here is
how our main method would look if we were to use lamda expressions.
public static void main(String[] args) {
List<Customer> customers = new ArrayList<>();
customers.add(new Customer(4, "Steve", "Pink"));

customers.add(new Customer(3, "Tim", "Orange"));
customers.add(new Customer(1, "Edward", "Blue"));
customers.add(new Customer(9, "Harvey", "White"));
customers.add(new Customer(2, "Quentin", "Brown"));
customers.add(new Customer(12, "Michael", "Blonde"));
System.out.println("Before sorting");
// sort by cutomer id
Collections.sort(customers, (Customer a, Customer b) -> {
return a.getCustomerID().compareTo(b.getCustomerID());
});
System.out.println("\nSorted by CustomerID");
// sort by last name

return a.getlName().compareTo(b.getlName());
});
System.out.println("\nSorted by last name");
// sort by first name

return a.getfName().compareTo(b.getfName());
});
System.out.println("\nSorted by first name");
The output is the same
Before sorting
Sorted by CustomerID
Sorted by last name

Sorted by first name

That is it. We can now use what we have learned to write useful compare
methods to sort any type of class that we can think of. I hope this brief
summary of the Comparator Interface was helpful and should you like to
view the source code for this tutorial it is available on GitHub.
Java Java8
27 claps 3 responses
WRIT T EN BY
I am a Java developer, a family man, and an all around easy

going guy.. I have created this blog primarily as a shortcut to
the things I have and will learn in my professional life.
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TyAnthoney Morrell JAVA S P RING MY S IT E

Photo by Maximilian Weisbecker on Unsplash

When implementing the Comparator Interface you must override the

public int compare(Object a, Object b);

public class Customer {

private Integer customerID;

// getters and setters omitted

public class CustomerIDSort implements Comparator<Customer> {

the second would be for the last name;

public class LastNameSort implements Comparator<Customer> {

and the third for the first name.

public class FirstNameSort implements Comparator<Customer> {

public static void main(String[] args) {

List<Customer> customers = new ArrayList<>();

customers.add(new Customer(4, "Steve", "Pink"));

for (Customer customer : customers) {

for (Customer customer : customers) {

// sort by last name

System.out.println("\nSorted by last name");

for (Customer customer : customers) {

// sort by first name

System.out.println("\nSorted by first name");

for (Customer customer : customers) {

Sorted by last name

Sorted by first name

public static void main(String[] args) {

List<Customer> customers = new ArrayList<>();

customers.add(new Customer(4, "Steve", "Pink"));

for (Customer customer : customers) {

for (Customer customer : customers) {

// sort by last name

System.out.println("\nSorted by last name");

for (Customer customer : customers) {

// sort by first name

System.out.println("\nSorted by first name");

for (Customer customer : customers) {

The output is the same

Sorted by last name

Sorted by first name

TyAnthoney Morrell Follow

I am a Java developer, a family man, and an all around easy

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