I have a List<String>
object that contains country names. How can I sort this list alphabetically?
This question is related to
java
list
sorting
collections
alphabetical
//Here is sorted List alphabetically with syncronized
package com.mnas.technology.automation.utility;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.Comparator;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.List;
import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
/**
*
* @author manoj.kumar
*/
public class SynchronizedArrayList {
static Logger log = Logger.getLogger(SynchronizedArrayList.class.getName());
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
public static void main(String[] args) {
List<Employee> synchronizedList = Collections.synchronizedList(new ArrayList<Employee>());
synchronizedList.add(new Employee("Aditya"));
synchronizedList.add(new Employee("Siddharth"));
synchronizedList.add(new Employee("Manoj"));
Collections.sort(synchronizedList, new Comparator() {
public int compare(Object synchronizedListOne, Object synchronizedListTwo) {
//use instanceof to verify the references are indeed of the type in question
return ((Employee)synchronizedListOne).name
.compareTo(((Employee)synchronizedListTwo).name);
}
});
/*for( Employee sd : synchronizedList) {
log.info("Sorted Synchronized Array List..."+sd.name);
}*/
// when iterating over a synchronized list, we need to synchronize access to the synchronized list
synchronized (synchronizedList) {
Iterator<Employee> iterator = synchronizedList.iterator();
while (iterator.hasNext()) {
log.info("Sorted Synchronized Array List Items: " + iterator.next().name);
}
}
}
}
class Employee {
String name;
Employee (String name) {
this.name = name;
}
}
Same in JAVA 8 :-
//Assecnding order
listOfCountryNames.stream().sorted().forEach((x) -> System.out.println(x));
//Decending order
listOfCountryNames.stream().sorted((o1, o2) -> o2.compareTo(o1)).forEach((x) -> System.out.println(x));
Assuming that those are Strings, use the convenient static method sort
…
java.util.Collections.sort(listOfCountryNames)
Use the two argument for of Collections.sort
. You will want a suitable Comparator
that treats case appropriate (i.e. does lexical, not UTF16 ordering), such as that obtainable through java.text.Collator.getInstance
.
If you are forced to use that List, or if your program has a structure like
then Thilos answer will be the best way to do it. If you combine it with the advice from Tom Hawtin - tackline, you get:
java.util.Collections.sort(listOfCountryNames, Collator.getInstance());
If you are free to decide, and if your application might get more complex, then you might change your code to use a TreeSet instead. This kind of collection sorts your entries just when they are inserted. No need to call sort().
Collection<String> countryNames =
new TreeSet<String>(Collator.getInstance());
countryNames.add("UK");
countryNames.add("Germany");
countryNames.add("Australia");
// Tada... sorted.
This has some subtle, but important advantages:
TreeSet<String> countyNames
and instantly knows: this is a sorted collection of Strings without duplicates, and I can be sure that this is true at every moment. So much information in a short declaration.Using the right collection for the right task is a key to write short and bug free code. It's not as demonstrative in this case, because you just save one line. But I've stopped counting how often I see someone using a List when they want to ensure there are no duplictes, and then build that functionality themselves. Or even worse, using two Lists when you really need a Map.
Don't get me wrong: Using Collections.sort is not an error or a flaw. But there are many cases when the TreeSet is much cleaner.
You can create a new sorted copy using Java 8 Stream or Guava:
// Java 8 version
List<String> sortedNames = names.stream().sorted().collect(Collectors.toList());
// Guava version
List<String> sortedNames = Ordering.natural().sortedCopy(names);
Another option is to sort in-place via Collections API:
Collections.sort(names);
In one line, using Java 8:
list.sort(Comparator.naturalOrder());
Unless you are sorting strings in an accent-free English only, you probably want to use a Collator
. It will correctly sort diacritical marks, can ignore case and other language-specific stuff:
Collections.sort(countries, Collator.getInstance(new Locale(languageCode)));
You can set the collator strength, see the javadoc.
Here is an example for Slovak where Š
should go after S
, but in UTF Š
is somewhere after Z
:
List<String> countries = Arrays.asList("Slovensko", "Švédsko", "Turecko");
Collections.sort(countries);
System.out.println(countries); // outputs [Slovensko, Turecko, Švédsko]
Collections.sort(countries, Collator.getInstance(new Locale("sk")));
System.out.println(countries); // outputs [Slovensko, Švédsko, Turecko]
You can use the following line
Collections.sort(listOfCountryNames, String.CASE_INSENSITIVE_ORDER)
It is similar to the suggestion of Thilo, but will not make a difference between upper and lowercase characters.
descending alphabet:
List<String> list;
...
Collections.sort(list);
Collections.reverse(list);
Better late than never! Here is how we can do it(for learning purpose only)-
import java.util.List;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.Comparator;
class SoftDrink {
String name;
String color;
int volume;
SoftDrink (String name, String color, int volume) {
this.name = name;
this.color = color;
this.volume = volume;
}
}
public class ListItemComparision {
public static void main (String...arg) {
List<SoftDrink> softDrinkList = new ArrayList<SoftDrink>() ;
softDrinkList .add(new SoftDrink("Faygo", "ColorOne", 4));
softDrinkList .add(new SoftDrink("Fanta", "ColorTwo", 3));
softDrinkList .add(new SoftDrink("Frooti", "ColorThree", 2));
softDrinkList .add(new SoftDrink("Freshie", "ColorFour", 1));
Collections.sort(softDrinkList, new Comparator() {
@Override
public int compare(Object softDrinkOne, Object softDrinkTwo) {
//use instanceof to verify the references are indeed of the type in question
return ((SoftDrink)softDrinkOne).name
.compareTo(((SoftDrink)softDrinkTwo).name);
}
});
for (SoftDrink sd : softDrinkList) {
System.out.println(sd.name + " - " + sd.color + " - " + sd.volume);
}
Collections.sort(softDrinkList, new Comparator() {
@Override
public int compare(Object softDrinkOne, Object softDrinkTwo) {
//comparision for primitive int uses compareTo of the wrapper Integer
return(new Integer(((SoftDrink)softDrinkOne).volume))
.compareTo(((SoftDrink)softDrinkTwo).volume);
}
});
for (SoftDrink sd : softDrinkList) {
System.out.println(sd.volume + " - " + sd.color + " - " + sd.name);
}
}
}
By using Collections.sort()
, we can sort a list.
public class EmployeeList {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
List<String> empNames= new ArrayList<String>();
empNames.add("sudheer");
empNames.add("kumar");
empNames.add("surendra");
empNames.add("kb");
if(!empNames.isEmpty()){
for(String emp:empNames){
System.out.println(emp);
}
Collections.sort(empNames);
System.out.println(empNames);
}
}
}
output:
sudheer
kumar
surendra
kb
[kb, kumar, sudheer, surendra]
Here is what you are looking for
listOfCountryNames.sort(String::compareToIgnoreCase)
Source: Stackoverflow.com