Comparatorpublic interface Comparator | A {@code Comparator} is used to compare two objects to determine their ordering with
respect to each other. On a given {@code Collection}, a {@code Comparator} can be used to
obtain a sorted {@code Collection} which is totally ordered. For a {@code Comparator}
to be consistent with equals, its {code #compare(Object, Object)}
method has to return zero for each pair of elements (a,b) where a.equals(b)
holds true. It is recommended that a {@code Comparator} implements
{@link java.io.Serializable}. |
| Methods Summary |
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| public int | compare(T object1, T object2)Compares the two specified objects to determine their relative ordering. The ordering
implied by the return value of this method for all possible pairs of
{@code (object1, object2)} should form an equivalence relation.
This means that
- {@code compare(a,a)} returns zero for all {@code a}
- the sign of {@code compare(a,b)} must be the opposite of the sign of {@code
compare(b,a)} for all pairs of (a,b)
- From {@code compare(a,b) > 0} and {@code compare(b,c) > 0} it must
follow {@code compare(a,c) > 0} for all possible combinations of {@code
(a,b,c)}
| | public boolean | equals(java.lang.Object object)Compares this {@code Comparator} with the specified {@code Object} and indicates whether they
are equal. In order to be equal, {@code object} must represent the same object
as this instance using a class-specific comparison.
A {@code Comparator} never needs to override this method, but may choose so for
performance reasons.
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