Package java.lang
Interface Comparable<T>
-
- All Known Implementing Classes:
Boolean
,Byte
,Character
,Double
,ElementType
,Enum
,Float
,Integer
,IntPacket.Type
,Long
,RetentionPolicy
,RN131.State
,RN131.State
,Short
,State
,String
public interface Comparable<T>
This interface should be implemented by all classes that wish to define a natural order of their instances.Collections.sort(java.util.List<T>)
andjava.util.Arrays#sort
can then be used to automatically sort lists of classes that implement this interface.The order rule must be both transitive (if
x.compareTo(y) < 0
andy.compareTo(z) < 0
, thenx.compareTo(z) < 0
must hold) and invertible (the sign of the result of x.compareTo(y) must be equal to the negation of the sign of the result of y.compareTo(x) for all combinations of x and y).In addition, it is recommended (but not required) that if and only if the result of x.compareTo(y) is zero, then the result of x.equals(y) should be
true
.
-
-
Method Summary
All Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods Modifier and Type Method Description int
compareTo(T another)
Compares this object to the specified object to determine their relative order.
-
-
-
Method Detail
-
compareTo
int compareTo(T another)
Compares this object to the specified object to determine their relative order.- Parameters:
another
- the object to compare to this instance.- Returns:
- a negative integer if this instance is less than
another
; a positive integer if this instance is greater thananother
; 0 if this instance has the same order asanother
. - Throws:
ClassCastException
- ifanother
cannot be converted into something comparable tothis
instance.
-
-