[java] Sort a Map<Key, Value> by values

I am relatively new to Java, and often find that I need to sort a Map<Key, Value> on the values.

Since the values are not unique, I find myself converting the keySet into an array, and sorting that array through array sort with a custom comparator that sorts on the value associated with the key.

Is there an easier way?

map = your hashmap;

List<Map.Entry<String, Integer>> list = new LinkedList<Map.Entry<String, Integer>>(map.entrySet());
Collections.sort(list, new cm());//IMP

HashMap<String, Integer> sorted = new LinkedHashMap<String, Integer>();
for(Map.Entry<String, Integer> en: list){
    sorted.put(en.getKey(),en.getValue());
}

System.out.println(sorted);//sorted hashmap

create new class

class cm implements Comparator<Map.Entry<String, Integer>>{
    @Override
    public int compare(Map.Entry<String, Integer> a, 
                            Map.Entry<String, Integer> b)
    {
        return (a.getValue()).compareTo(b.getValue());
    }
}

Instead of using Collections.sort as some do I'd suggest using Arrays.sort. Actually what Collections.sort does is something like this:

public static <T extends Comparable<? super T>> void sort(List<T> list) {
    Object[] a = list.toArray();
    Arrays.sort(a);
    ListIterator<T> i = list.listIterator();
    for (int j=0; j<a.length; j++) {
        i.next();
        i.set((T)a[j]);
    }
}

It just calls toArray on the list and then uses Arrays.sort. This way all the map entries will be copied three times: once from the map to the temporary list (be it a LinkedList or ArrayList), then to the temporary array and finally to the new map.

My solution ommits this one step as it does not create unnecessary LinkedList. Here is the code, generic-friendly and performance-optimal:

public static <K, V extends Comparable<? super V>> Map<K, V> sortByValue(Map<K, V> map) 
{
    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
    Map.Entry<K,V>[] array = map.entrySet().toArray(new Map.Entry[map.size()]);

    Arrays.sort(array, new Comparator<Map.Entry<K, V>>() 
    {
        public int compare(Map.Entry<K, V> e1, Map.Entry<K, V> e2) 
        {
            return e1.getValue().compareTo(e2.getValue());
        }
    });

    Map<K, V> result = new LinkedHashMap<K, V>();
    for (Map.Entry<K, V> entry : array)
        result.put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());

    return result;
}

If there's not any value bigger than the size of the map, you could use arrays, this should be the fastest approach:

public List<String> getList(Map<String, Integer> myMap) {
    String[] copyArray = new String[myMap.size()];
    for (Entry<String, Integer> entry : myMap.entrySet()) {
        copyArray[entry.getValue()] = entry.getKey();
    }
    return Arrays.asList(copyArray);
}

public class SortedMapExample {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Map<String, String> map = new HashMap<String, String>();

        map.put("Cde", "C");
        map.put("Abc", "A");
        map.put("Cbc", "Z");
        map.put("Dbc", "D");
        map.put("Bcd", "B");
        map.put("sfd", "Bqw");
        map.put("DDD", "Bas");
        map.put("BGG", "Basd");

        System.out.println(sort(map, new Comparator<String>() {
            @Override
            public int compare(String o1, String o2) {
                    return o1.compareTo(o2);
            }}));
    }

    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
    public static <K, V> Map<K,V> sort(Map<K, V> in, Comparator<? super V> compare) {
        Map<K, V> result = new LinkedHashMap<K, V>();
        V[] array = (V[])in.values().toArray();
        for(int i=0;i<array.length;i++)
        {

        }
        Arrays.sort(array, compare);
        for (V item : array) {
            K key= (K) getKey(in, item);
            result.put(key, item);
        }
        return result;
    }

    public static <K, V>  Object getKey(Map<K, V> in,V value)
    {
       Set<K> key= in.keySet();
       Iterator<K> keyIterator=key.iterator();
       while (keyIterator.hasNext()) {
           K valueObject = (K) keyIterator.next();
           if(in.get(valueObject).equals(value))
           {
                   return valueObject;
           }
       }
       return null;
   }

}

// Please try here. I am modifing the code for value sort.

The answer voted for the most does not work when you have 2 items that equals. the TreeMap leaves equal values out.

the exmaple: unsorted map

key/value: D/67.3
key/value: A/99.5
key/value: B/67.4
key/value: C/67.5
key/value: E/99.5

results

key/value: A/99.5
key/value: C/67.5
key/value: B/67.4
key/value: D/67.3

So leaves out E!!

For me it worked fine to adjust the comparator, if it equals do not return 0 but -1.

in the example:

class ValueComparator implements Comparator {

Map base; public ValueComparator(Map base) { this.base = base; }

public int compare(Object a, Object b) {

if((Double)base.get(a) < (Double)base.get(b)) {
  return 1;
} else if((Double)base.get(a) == (Double)base.get(b)) {
  return -1;
} else {
  return -1;
}

} }

now it returns:

unsorted map:

key/value: D/67.3
key/value: A/99.5
key/value: B/67.4
key/value: C/67.5
key/value: E/99.5

results:

key/value: A/99.5
key/value: E/99.5
key/value: C/67.5
key/value: B/67.4
key/value: D/67.3

as a response to Aliens (2011 nov. 22): I Am using this solution for a map of Integer Id's and names, but the idea is the same, so might be the code above is not correct (I will write it in a test and give you the correct code), this is the code for a Map sorting, based on the solution above:

package nl.iamit.util;

import java.util.Comparator;
import java.util.Map;

public class Comparators {


    public static class MapIntegerStringComparator implements Comparator {

        Map<Integer, String> base;

        public MapIntegerStringComparator(Map<Integer, String> base) {
            this.base = base;
        }

        public int compare(Object a, Object b) {

            int compare = ((String) base.get(a))
                    .compareTo((String) base.get(b));
            if (compare == 0) {
                return -1;
            }
            return compare;
        }
    }


}

and this is the test class (I just tested it, and this works for the Integer, String Map:

package test.nl.iamit.util;

import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.TreeMap;
import nl.iamit.util.Comparators;
import org.junit.Test;
import static org.junit.Assert.assertArrayEquals;

public class TestComparators {


    @Test
    public void testMapIntegerStringComparator(){
        HashMap<Integer, String> unSoretedMap = new HashMap<Integer, String>();
        Comparators.MapIntegerStringComparator bvc = new Comparators.MapIntegerStringComparator(
                unSoretedMap);
        TreeMap<Integer, String> sorted_map = new TreeMap<Integer, String>(bvc);
        //the testdata:
        unSoretedMap.put(new Integer(1), "E");
        unSoretedMap.put(new Integer(2), "A");
        unSoretedMap.put(new Integer(3), "E");
        unSoretedMap.put(new Integer(4), "B");
        unSoretedMap.put(new Integer(5), "F");

        sorted_map.putAll(unSoretedMap);

        Object[] targetKeys={new Integer(2),new Integer(4),new Integer(3),new Integer(1),new Integer(5) };
        Object[] currecntKeys=sorted_map.keySet().toArray();

        assertArrayEquals(targetKeys,currecntKeys);
    }
}

here is the code for the Comparator of a Map:

public static class MapStringDoubleComparator implements Comparator {

    Map<String, Double> base;

    public MapStringDoubleComparator(Map<String, Double> base) {
        this.base = base;
    }

    //note if you want decending in stead of ascending, turn around 1 and -1
    public int compare(Object a, Object b) {
        if ((Double) base.get(a) == (Double) base.get(b)) {
            return 0;
        } else if((Double) base.get(a) < (Double) base.get(b)) {
            return -1;
        }else{
            return 1;
        }
    }
}

and this is the testcase for this:

@Test
public void testMapStringDoubleComparator(){
    HashMap<String, Double> unSoretedMap = new HashMap<String, Double>();
    Comparators.MapStringDoubleComparator bvc = new Comparators.MapStringDoubleComparator(
            unSoretedMap);
    TreeMap<String, Double> sorted_map = new TreeMap<String, Double>(bvc);
    //the testdata:
    unSoretedMap.put("D",new Double(67.3));
    unSoretedMap.put("A",new Double(99.5));
    unSoretedMap.put("B",new Double(67.4));
    unSoretedMap.put("C",new Double(67.5));
    unSoretedMap.put("E",new Double(99.5));

    sorted_map.putAll(unSoretedMap);

    Object[] targetKeys={"D","B","C","E","A"};
    Object[] currecntKeys=sorted_map.keySet().toArray();

    assertArrayEquals(targetKeys,currecntKeys);
}

of cource you can make this a lot more generic, but I just needed it for 1 case (the Map)

I rewrote devinmoore's method that performs sorting a map by it's value without using Iterator :

public static Map<K, V> sortMapByValue(Map<K, V> inputMap) {

    Set<Entry<K, V>> set = inputMap.entrySet();
    List<Entry<K, V>> list = new ArrayList<Entry<K, V>>(set);

    Collections.sort(list, new Comparator<Map.Entry<K, V>>()
    {
        @Override
        public int compare(Entry<K, V> o1, Entry<K, V> o2) {
            return (o1.getValue()).compareTo( o2.getValue() );  //Ascending order
        }
    } );

    Map<K, V> sortedMap = new LinkedHashMap<>();

    for(Map.Entry<K, V> entry : list){
        sortedMap.put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
    }

    return sortedMap;
}

Note: that we used LinkedHashMap as output map, because our list has been sorted by value and now we should store our list into output map with order of inserted key,values. So if you use for example TreeMap as your output map, your map will be sorted by map keys again!

This is the main method:

public static void main(String[] args) {
    Map<String, String> map = new HashMap<>();
    map.put("3", "three");
    map.put("1", "one");
    map.put("5", "five");
    System.out.println("Input Map:" + map);
    System.out.println("Sorted Map:" + sortMapByValue(map));
}

Finally, this is the output:

Input Map:{1=one, 3=three, 5=five}
Sorted Map:{5=five, 1=one, 3=three}

Simple way to sort any map in Java 8 and above

Map<String, Object> mapToSort = new HashMap<>();

List<Map.Entry<String, Object>> list = new LinkedList<>(mapToSort.entrySet());

Collections.sort(list, Comparator.comparing(o -> o.getValue().getAttribute()));

HashMap<String, Object> sortedMap = new LinkedHashMap<>();
for (Map.Entry<String, Object> map : list) {
   sortedMap.put(map.getKey(), map.getValue());
}

if you are using Java 7 and below

Map<String, Object> mapToSort = new HashMap<>();

List<Map.Entry<String, Object>> list = new LinkedList<>(mapToSort.entrySet());

Collections.sort(list, new Comparator<Map.Entry<String, Object>>() {
    @Override
    public int compare(Map.Entry<String, Object> o1, Map.Entry<String, Object> o2) {
       return o1.getValue().getAttribute().compareTo(o2.getValue().getAttribute());      
    }
});

HashMap<String, Object> sortedMap = new LinkedHashMap<>();
for (Map.Entry<String, Object> map : list) {
   sortedMap.put(map.getKey(), map.getValue());
}

The simplest brute-force sortHashMap method for HashMap<String, Long>: you can just copypaste it and use like this:

public class Test  {
    public static void main(String[] args)  {
        HashMap<String, Long> hashMap = new HashMap<>();
        hashMap.put("Cat", (long) 4);
        hashMap.put("Human", (long) 2);
        hashMap.put("Dog", (long) 4);
        hashMap.put("Fish", (long) 0);
        hashMap.put("Tree", (long) 1);
        hashMap.put("Three-legged-human", (long) 3);
        hashMap.put("Monkey", (long) 2);

        System.out.println(hashMap);  //{Human=2, Cat=4, Three-legged-human=3, Monkey=2, Fish=0, Tree=1, Dog=4}
        System.out.println(sortHashMap(hashMap));  //{Cat=4, Dog=4, Three-legged-human=3, Human=2, Monkey=2, Tree=1, Fish=0}
    }

    public LinkedHashMap<String, Long> sortHashMap(HashMap<String, Long> unsortedMap)  {
        LinkedHashMap<String, Long> result = new LinkedHashMap<>();

        //add String keys to an array: the array would get sorted, based on those keys' values
        ArrayList<String> sortedKeys = new ArrayList<>();
        for (String key: unsortedMap.keySet())  {
            sortedKeys.add(key);
        }

        //sort the ArrayList<String> of keys    
        for (int i=0; i<unsortedMap.size(); i++)  {
            for (int j=1; j<sortedKeys.size(); j++)  {
                if (unsortedMap.get(sortedKeys.get(j)) > unsortedMap.get(sortedKeys.get(j-1))) {
                    String temp = sortedKeys.get(j);
                    sortedKeys.set(j, sortedKeys.get(j-1));
                    sortedKeys.set(j-1, temp);
                }
            }
        }

        // construct the result Map
        for (String key: sortedKeys)  {
            result.put(key, unsortedMap.get(key));
        }

        return result;
    }
}

This is just too complicated. Maps were not supposed to do such job as sorting them by Value. The easiest way is to create your own Class so it fits your requirement.

In example lower you are supposed to add TreeMap a comparator at place where * is. But by java API it gives comparator only keys, not values. All of examples stated here is based on 2 Maps. One Hash and one new Tree. Which is odd.

The example:

Map<Driver driver, Float time> map = new TreeMap<Driver driver, Float time>(*);

So change the map into a set this way:

ResultComparator rc = new ResultComparator();
Set<Results> set = new TreeSet<Results>(rc);

You will create class Results,

public class Results {
    private Driver driver;
    private Float time;

    public Results(Driver driver, Float time) {
        this.driver = driver;
        this.time = time;
    }

    public Float getTime() {
        return time;
    }

    public void setTime(Float time) {
        this.time = time;
    }

    public Driver getDriver() {
        return driver;
    }

    public void setDriver (Driver driver) {
        this.driver = driver;
    }
}

and the Comparator class:

public class ResultsComparator implements Comparator<Results> {
    public int compare(Results t, Results t1) {
        if (t.getTime() < t1.getTime()) {
            return 1;
        } else if (t.getTime() == t1.getTime()) {
            return 0;
        } else {
            return -1;
        }
    }
}

This way you can easily add more dependencies.

And as the last point I'll add simple iterator:

Iterator it = set.iterator();
while (it.hasNext()) {
    Results r = (Results)it.next();
    System.out.println( r.getDriver().toString
        //or whatever that is related to Driver class -getName() getSurname()
        + " "
        + r.getTime()
        );
}

Best Approach

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.Comparator;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Set;
import java.util.Map.Entry; 

public class OrderByValue {

  public static void main(String a[]){
    Map<String, Integer> map = new HashMap<String, Integer>();
    map.put("java", 20);
    map.put("C++", 45);
    map.put("Unix", 67);
    map.put("MAC", 26);
    map.put("Why this kolavari", 93);
    Set<Entry<String, Integer>> set = map.entrySet();
    List<Entry<String, Integer>> list = new ArrayList<Entry<String, Integer>>(set);
    Collections.sort( list, new Comparator<Map.Entry<String, Integer>>()
    {
        public int compare( Map.Entry<String, Integer> o1, Map.Entry<String, Integer> o2 )
        {
            return (o1.getValue()).compareTo( o2.getValue() );//Ascending order
            //return (o2.getValue()).compareTo( o1.getValue() );//Descending order
        }
    } );
    for(Map.Entry<String, Integer> entry:list){
        System.out.println(entry.getKey()+" ==== "+entry.getValue());
    }
  }}

Output

java ==== 20

MAC ==== 26

C++ ==== 45

Unix ==== 67

Why this kolavari ==== 93

This method will just serve the purpose. (the 'setback' is that the Values must implement the java.util.Comparable interface)

  /**

 * Sort a map according to values.

 * @param <K> the key of the map.
 * @param <V> the value to sort according to.
 * @param mapToSort the map to sort.

 * @return a map sorted on the values.

 */ 
public static <K, V extends Comparable< ? super V>> Map<K, V>
sortMapByValues(final Map <K, V> mapToSort)
{
    List<Map.Entry<K, V>> entries =
        new ArrayList<Map.Entry<K, V>>(mapToSort.size());  

    entries.addAll(mapToSort.entrySet());

    Collections.sort(entries,
                     new Comparator<Map.Entry<K, V>>()
    {
        @Override
        public int compare(
               final Map.Entry<K, V> entry1,
               final Map.Entry<K, V> entry2)
        {
            return entry1.getValue().compareTo(entry2.getValue());
        }
    });      

    Map<K, V> sortedMap = new LinkedHashMap<K, V>();      

    for (Map.Entry<K, V> entry : entries)
    {
        sortedMap.put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());

    }      

    return sortedMap;

}

http://javawithswaranga.blogspot.com/2011/06/generic-method-to-sort-hashmap.html

Some simple changes in order to have a sorted map with pairs that have duplicate values. In the compare method (class ValueComparator) when values are equal do not return 0 but return the result of comparing the 2 keys. Keys are distinct in a map so you succeed to keep duplicate values (which are sorted by keys by the way). So the above example could be modified like this:

    public int compare(Object a, Object b) {

        if((Double)base.get(a) < (Double)base.get(b)) {
          return 1;
        } else if((Double)base.get(a) == (Double)base.get(b)) {
          return ((String)a).compareTo((String)b);
        } else {
          return -1;
        }
      }
    }

Okay, this version works with two new Map objects and two iterations and sorts on values. Hope, the performs well although the map entries must be looped twice:

public static void main(String[] args) {
    Map<String, String> unsorted = new HashMap<String, String>();
    unsorted.put("Cde", "Cde_Value");
    unsorted.put("Abc", "Abc_Value");
    unsorted.put("Bcd", "Bcd_Value");

    Comparator<String> comparer = new Comparator<String>() {
        @Override
        public int compare(String o1, String o2) {
            return o1.compareTo(o2);
        }};

    System.out.println(sortByValue(unsorted, comparer));

}

public static <K, V> Map<K,V> sortByValue(Map<K, V> in, Comparator<? super V> compare) {
    Map<V, K> swapped = new TreeMap<V, K>(compare);
    for(Entry<K,V> entry: in.entrySet()) {
        if (entry.getValue() != null) {
            swapped.put(entry.getValue(), entry.getKey());
        }
    }
    LinkedHashMap<K, V> result = new LinkedHashMap<K, V>();
    for(Entry<V,K> entry: swapped.entrySet()) {
        if (entry.getValue() != null) {
            result.put(entry.getValue(), entry.getKey());
        }
    }
    return result;
}

The solution uses a TreeMap with a Comparator and sorts out all null keys and values. First, the ordering functionality from the TreeMap is used to sort upon the values, next the sorted Map is used to create a result as a LinkedHashMap that retains has the same order of values.

Greetz, GHad

Using LinkedList

//Create a list by HashMap
List<Map.Entry<String, Double>> list = new LinkedList<>(hashMap.entrySet());

//Sorting the list
Collections.sort(list, new Comparator<Map.Entry<String, Double>>() {
    public int compare(Map.Entry<String, Double> o1, Map.Entry<String, Double> o2) {
        return (o1.getValue()).compareTo(o2.getValue());
    }
});

//put data from sorted list to hashmap
HashMap<String, Double> sortedData = new LinkedHashMap<>();
for (Map.Entry<String, Double> data : list) {
    sortedData.put(data.getKey(), data.getValue());
}

System.out.print(sortedData);

I've merged the solutions of user157196 and Carter Page:

class MapUtil {

    public static <K, V extends Comparable<? super V>> Map<K, V> sortByValue( Map<K, V> map ){
        ValueComparator<K,V> bvc =  new ValueComparator<K,V>(map);
        TreeMap<K,V> sorted_map = new TreeMap<K,V>(bvc);
        sorted_map.putAll(map);
        return sorted_map;
    }

}

class ValueComparator<K, V extends Comparable<? super V>> implements Comparator<K> {

    Map<K, V> base;
    public ValueComparator(Map<K, V> base) {
        this.base = base;
    }

    public int compare(K a, K b) {
        int result = (base.get(a).compareTo(base.get(b)));
        if (result == 0) result=1;
        // returning 0 would merge keys
        return result;
    }
}

I can give you an example but sure this is what you need.

map = {10 = 3, 11 = 1,12 = 2} 

Let's say you want the top 2 most frequent key which is (10, 12) So the easiest way is using a PriorityQueue to sort based on the value of the map.

PriorityQueue<Integer> pq = new PriorityQueue<>((a, b) -> (map.get(a) - map.get(b));
for(int key: map.keySets()) {
   pq.add(key);
   if(pq.size() > 2) {
      pq.poll();
   }
}
// Now pq has the top 2 most frequent key based on value. It sorts the value. 

Important note:

This code can break in multiple ways. If you intend to use the code provided, be sure to read the comments as well to be aware of the implications. For example, values can no longer be retrieved by their key. (get always returns null.)

It seems much easier than all of the foregoing. Use a TreeMap as follows:

public class Testing {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        HashMap<String, Double> map = new HashMap<String, Double>();
        ValueComparator bvc = new ValueComparator(map);
        TreeMap<String, Double> sorted_map = new TreeMap<String, Double>(bvc);

        map.put("A", 99.5);
        map.put("B", 67.4);
        map.put("C", 67.4);
        map.put("D", 67.3);

        System.out.println("unsorted map: " + map);
        sorted_map.putAll(map);
        System.out.println("results: " + sorted_map);
    }
}

class ValueComparator implements Comparator<String> {
    Map<String, Double> base;

    public ValueComparator(Map<String, Double> base) {
        this.base = base;
    }

    // Note: this comparator imposes orderings that are inconsistent with
    // equals.
    public int compare(String a, String b) {
        if (base.get(a) >= base.get(b)) {
            return -1;
        } else {
            return 1;
        } // returning 0 would merge keys
    }
}

Output:

unsorted map: {D=67.3, A=99.5, B=67.4, C=67.4}
results: {D=67.3, B=67.4, C=67.4, A=99.5}

Three 1-line answers...

I would use Google Collections Guava to do this - if your values are Comparable then you can use

valueComparator = Ordering.natural().onResultOf(Functions.forMap(map))

Which will create a function (object) for the map [that takes any of the keys as input, returning the respective value], and then apply natural (comparable) ordering to them [the values].

If they're not comparable, then you'll need to do something along the lines of

valueComparator = Ordering.from(comparator).onResultOf(Functions.forMap(map)) 

These may be applied to a TreeMap (as Ordering extends Comparator), or a LinkedHashMap after some sorting

NB: If you are going to use a TreeMap, remember that if a comparison == 0, then the item is already in the list (which will happen if you have multiple values that compare the same). To alleviate this, you could add your key to the comparator like so (presuming that your keys and values are Comparable):

valueComparator = Ordering.natural().onResultOf(Functions.forMap(map)).compound(Ordering.natural())

= Apply natural ordering to the value mapped by the key, and compound that with the natural ordering of the key

Note that this will still not work if your keys compare to 0, but this should be sufficient for most comparable items (as hashCode, equals and compareTo are often in sync...)

See Ordering.onResultOf() and Functions.forMap().

Implementation

So now that we've got a comparator that does what we want, we need to get a result from it.

map = ImmutableSortedMap.copyOf(myOriginalMap, valueComparator);

Now this will most likely work work, but:

1. needs to be done given a complete finished map
2. Don't try the comparators above on a TreeMap; there's no point trying to compare an inserted key when it doesn't have a value until after the put, i.e., it will break really fast

Point 1 is a bit of a deal-breaker for me; google collections is incredibly lazy (which is good: you can do pretty much every operation in an instant; the real work is done when you start using the result), and this requires copying a whole map!

"Full" answer/Live sorted map by values

Don't worry though; if you were obsessed enough with having a "live" map sorted in this manner, you could solve not one but both(!) of the above issues with something crazy like the following:

Note: This has changed significantly in June 2012 - the previous code could never work: an internal HashMap is required to lookup the values without creating an infinite loop between the TreeMap.get() -> compare() and compare() -> get()

import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;

import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.TreeMap;

import com.google.common.base.Functions;
import com.google.common.collect.Ordering;

class ValueComparableMap<K extends Comparable<K>,V> extends TreeMap<K,V> {
    //A map for doing lookups on the keys for comparison so we don't get infinite loops
    private final Map<K, V> valueMap;

    ValueComparableMap(final Ordering<? super V> partialValueOrdering) {
        this(partialValueOrdering, new HashMap<K,V>());
    }

    private ValueComparableMap(Ordering<? super V> partialValueOrdering,
            HashMap<K, V> valueMap) {
        super(partialValueOrdering //Apply the value ordering
                .onResultOf(Functions.forMap(valueMap)) //On the result of getting the value for the key from the map
                .compound(Ordering.natural())); //as well as ensuring that the keys don't get clobbered
        this.valueMap = valueMap;
    }

    public V put(K k, V v) {
        if (valueMap.containsKey(k)){
            //remove the key in the sorted set before adding the key again
            remove(k);
        }
        valueMap.put(k,v); //To get "real" unsorted values for the comparator
        return super.put(k, v); //Put it in value order
    }

    public static void main(String[] args){
        TreeMap<String, Integer> map = new ValueComparableMap<String, Integer>(Ordering.natural());
        map.put("a", 5);
        map.put("b", 1);
        map.put("c", 3);
        assertEquals("b",map.firstKey());
        assertEquals("a",map.lastKey());
        map.put("d",0);
        assertEquals("d",map.firstKey());
        //ensure it's still a map (by overwriting a key, but with a new value) 
        map.put("d", 2);
        assertEquals("b", map.firstKey());
        //Ensure multiple values do not clobber keys
        map.put("e", 2);
        assertEquals(5, map.size());
        assertEquals(2, (int) map.get("e"));
        assertEquals(2, (int) map.get("d"));
    }
 }

When we put, we ensure that the hash map has the value for the comparator, and then put to the TreeSet for sorting. But before that we check the hash map to see that the key is not actually a duplicate. Also, the comparator that we create will also include the key so that duplicate values don't delete the non-duplicate keys (due to == comparison). These 2 items are vital for ensuring the map contract is kept; if you think you don't want that, then you're almost at the point of reversing the map entirely (to Map<V,K>).

The constructor would need to be called as

 new ValueComparableMap(Ordering.natural());
 //or
 new ValueComparableMap(Ordering.from(comparator));

Create customized comparator and use it while creating new TreeMap object.

class MyComparator implements Comparator<Object> {

    Map<String, Integer> map;

    public MyComparator(Map<String, Integer> map) {
        this.map = map;
    }

    public int compare(Object o1, Object o2) {

        if (map.get(o2) == map.get(o1))
            return 1;
        else
            return ((Integer) map.get(o2)).compareTo((Integer)     
                                                            map.get(o1));

    }
}

Use the below code in your main func

    Map<String, Integer> lMap = new HashMap<String, Integer>();
    lMap.put("A", 35);
    lMap.put("B", 75);
    lMap.put("C", 50);
    lMap.put("D", 50);

    MyComparator comparator = new MyComparator(lMap);

    Map<String, Integer> newMap = new TreeMap<String, Integer>(comparator);
    newMap.putAll(lMap);
    System.out.println(newMap);

Output:

{B=75, D=50, C=50, A=35}

This has the added benefit of being able to sort ascending or descending, using Java 8

import static java.util.Comparator.comparingInt;
import static java.util.stream.Collectors.toMap;
import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Map.Entry;
import java.util.stream.Collectors;
import java.util.stream.Stream;

class Utils {
    public static Map<String, Integer> sortMapBasedOnValues(Map<String, Integer> map, boolean descending) {
        int multiplyBy = (descending) ? -1: 1;
        Map<String, Integer> sorted =  map.entrySet().stream()
                .sorted(comparingInt(e -> multiplyBy * e.getValue() ))
                .collect(toMap(
                        Map.Entry::getKey, 
                        Map.Entry::getValue,
                        (a, b) -> { throw new AssertionError();},
                        LinkedHashMap::new
                    ));
        return sorted;
    }
}

With Java 8, you can use the streams api to do it in a significantly less verbose way:

Map<K, V> sortedMap = map.entrySet().stream()
                         .sorted(Entry.comparingByValue())
                         .collect(Collectors.toMap(Entry::getKey, Entry::getValue, (e1, e2) -> e1, LinkedHashMap::new));

The commons-collections library contains a solution called TreeBidiMap. Or, you could have a look at the Google Collections API. It has TreeMultimap which you could use.

And if you don't want to use these framework... they come with source code.

Based on @devinmoore code, a map sorting methods using generics and supporting both ascending and descending ordering.

/**
 * Sort a map by it's keys in ascending order. 
 *  
 * @return new instance of {@link LinkedHashMap} contained sorted entries of supplied map.
 * @author Maxim Veksler
 */
public static <K, V> LinkedHashMap<K, V> sortMapByKey(final Map<K, V> map) {
    return sortMapByKey(map, SortingOrder.ASCENDING);
}

/**
 * Sort a map by it's values in ascending order.
 *  
 * @return new instance of {@link LinkedHashMap} contained sorted entries of supplied map.
 * @author Maxim Veksler
 */
public static <K, V> LinkedHashMap<K, V> sortMapByValue(final Map<K, V> map) {
    return sortMapByValue(map, SortingOrder.ASCENDING);
}

/**
 * Sort a map by it's keys.
 *  
 * @param sortingOrder {@link SortingOrder} enum specifying requested sorting order. 
 * @return new instance of {@link LinkedHashMap} contained sorted entries of supplied map.
 * @author Maxim Veksler
 */
public static <K, V> LinkedHashMap<K, V> sortMapByKey(final Map<K, V> map, final SortingOrder sortingOrder) {
    Comparator<Map.Entry<K, V>> comparator = new Comparator<Entry<K,V>>() {
        public int compare(Entry<K, V> o1, Entry<K, V> o2) {
            return comparableCompare(o1.getKey(), o2.getKey(), sortingOrder);
        }
    };

    return sortMap(map, comparator);
}

/**
 * Sort a map by it's values.
 *  
 * @param sortingOrder {@link SortingOrder} enum specifying requested sorting order. 
 * @return new instance of {@link LinkedHashMap} contained sorted entries of supplied map.
 * @author Maxim Veksler
 */
public static <K, V> LinkedHashMap<K, V> sortMapByValue(final Map<K, V> map, final SortingOrder sortingOrder) {
    Comparator<Map.Entry<K, V>> comparator = new Comparator<Entry<K,V>>() {
        public int compare(Entry<K, V> o1, Entry<K, V> o2) {
            return comparableCompare(o1.getValue(), o2.getValue(), sortingOrder);
        }
    };

    return sortMap(map, comparator);
}

@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
private static <T> int comparableCompare(T o1, T o2, SortingOrder sortingOrder) {
    int compare = ((Comparable<T>)o1).compareTo(o2);

    switch (sortingOrder) {
    case ASCENDING:
        return compare;
    case DESCENDING:
        return (-1) * compare;
    }

    return 0;
}

/**
 * Sort a map by supplied comparator logic.
 *  
 * @return new instance of {@link LinkedHashMap} contained sorted entries of supplied map.
 * @author Maxim Veksler
 */
public static <K, V> LinkedHashMap<K, V> sortMap(final Map<K, V> map, final Comparator<Map.Entry<K, V>> comparator) {
    // Convert the map into a list of key,value pairs.
    List<Map.Entry<K, V>> mapEntries = new LinkedList<Map.Entry<K, V>>(map.entrySet());

    // Sort the converted list according to supplied comparator.
    Collections.sort(mapEntries, comparator);

    // Build a new ordered map, containing the same entries as the old map.  
    LinkedHashMap<K, V> result = new LinkedHashMap<K, V>(map.size() + (map.size() / 20));
    for(Map.Entry<K, V> entry : mapEntries) {
        // We iterate on the mapEntries list which is sorted by the comparator putting new entries into 
        // the targeted result which is a sorted map. 
        result.put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
    }

    return result;
}

/**
 * Sorting order enum, specifying request result sort behavior.
 * @author Maxim Veksler
 *
 */
public static enum SortingOrder {
    /**
     * Resulting sort will be from smaller to biggest.
     */
    ASCENDING,
    /**
     * Resulting sort will be from biggest to smallest.
     */
    DESCENDING
}

This is a variation of Anthony's answer, which doesn't work if there are duplicate values:

public static <K, V extends Comparable<V>> Map<K, V> sortMapByValues(final Map<K, V> map) {
    Comparator<K> valueComparator =  new Comparator<K>() {
        public int compare(K k1, K k2) {
            final V v1 = map.get(k1);
            final V v2 = map.get(k2);

            /* Not sure how to handle nulls ... */
            if (v1 == null) {
                return (v2 == null) ? 0 : 1;
            }

            int compare = v2.compareTo(v1);
            if (compare != 0)
            {
                return compare;
            }
            else
            {
                Integer h1 = k1.hashCode();
                Integer h2 = k2.hashCode();
                return h2.compareTo(h1);
            }
        }
    };
    Map<K, V> sortedByValues = new TreeMap<K, V>(valueComparator);
    sortedByValues.putAll(map);
    return sortedByValues;
}

Note that it's rather up in the air how to handle nulls.

One important advantage of this approach is that it actually returns a Map, unlike some of the other solutions offered here.

Use java.util.TreeMap.

"The map is sorted according to the natural ordering of its keys, or by a Comparator provided at map creation time, depending on which constructor is used."

Afaik the most cleaner way is utilizing collections to sort map on value:

Map<String, Long> map = new HashMap<String, Long>();
// populate with data to sort on Value
// use datastructure designed for sorting

Queue queue = new PriorityQueue( map.size(), new MapComparable() );
queue.addAll( map.entrySet() );

// get a sorted map
LinkedHashMap<String, Long> linkedMap = new LinkedHashMap<String, Long>();

for (Map.Entry<String, Long> entry; (entry = queue.poll())!=null;) {
    linkedMap.put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
}

public static class MapComparable implements Comparator<Map.Entry<String, Long>>{

  public int compare(Entry<String, Long> e1, Entry<String, Long> e2) {
    return e1.getValue().compareTo(e2.getValue());
  }
}

Best thing is to convert HashMap to TreeMap. TreeMap sort keys on its own. If you want to sort on values than quick fix can be you can switch values with keys if your values are not duplicates.

From http://www.programmersheaven.com/download/49349/download.aspx

private static <K, V> Map<K, V> sortByValue(Map<K, V> map) {
    List<Entry<K, V>> list = new LinkedList<>(map.entrySet());
    Collections.sort(list, new Comparator<Object>() {
        @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
        public int compare(Object o1, Object o2) {
            return ((Comparable<V>) ((Map.Entry<K, V>) (o1)).getValue()).compareTo(((Map.Entry<K, V>) (o2)).getValue());
        }
    });

    Map<K, V> result = new LinkedHashMap<>();
    for (Iterator<Entry<K, V>> it = list.iterator(); it.hasNext();) {
        Map.Entry<K, V> entry = (Map.Entry<K, V>) it.next();
        result.put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
    }

    return result;
}

We simply sort a map just like this

            Map<String, String> unsortedMap = new HashMap<String, String>();

    unsortedMap.put("E", "E Val");
    unsortedMap.put("F", "F Val");
    unsortedMap.put("H", "H Val");
    unsortedMap.put("B", "B Val");
    unsortedMap.put("C", "C Val");
    unsortedMap.put("A", "A Val");
    unsortedMap.put("G", "G Val");
    unsortedMap.put("D", "D Val");

    Map<String, String> sortedMap = new TreeMap<String, String>(unsortedMap);

    System.out.println("\nAfter sorting..");
    for (Map.Entry <String, String> mapEntry : sortedMap.entrySet()) {
        System.out.println(mapEntry.getKey() + " \t" + mapEntry.getValue());

as map is unordered to sort it ,we can do following

Map<String, String> map= new TreeMap<String, String>(unsortMap);

You should note that, unlike a hash map, a tree map guarantees that its elements will be sorted in ascending key order.

Major problem. If you use the first answer (Google takes you here), change the comparator to add an equal clause, otherwise you cannot get values from the sorted_map by keys:

public int compare(String a, String b) {
        if (base.get(a) > base.get(b)) {
            return 1;
        } else if (base.get(a) < base.get(b)){
            return -1;
        } 

        return 0;
        // returning 0 would merge keys
    }

Here's a generic-friendly version:

public class MapUtil {
    public static <K, V extends Comparable<? super V>> Map<K, V> sortByValue(Map<K, V> map) {
        List<Entry<K, V>> list = new ArrayList<>(map.entrySet());
        list.sort(Entry.comparingByValue());

        Map<K, V> result = new LinkedHashMap<>();
        for (Entry<K, V> entry : list) {
            result.put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
        }

        return result;
    }
}

If there is a preference of having a Map data structure that inherently sorts by values without having to trigger any sort methods or explicitly pass to a utility, then the following solutions may be applicable:

(1) org.drools.chance.core.util.ValueSortedMap (JBoss project) maintains two maps internally one for lookup and one for maintaining the sorted values. Quite similar to previously added answers, but probably it is the abstraction and encapsulation part (including copying mechanism) that makes it safer to use from the outside.

(2) http://techblog.molindo.at/2008/11/java-map-sorted-by-value.html avoids maintaining two maps and instead relies/extends from Apache Common's LinkedMap. (Blog author's note: as all the code here is in the public domain):

// required to access LinkEntry.before and LinkEntry.after
package org.apache.commons.collections.map;

// SNIP: imports

/**
* map implementation based on LinkedMap that maintains a sorted list of
* values for iteration
*/
public class ValueSortedHashMap extends LinkedMap {
    private final boolean _asc;

    // don't use super()!
    public ValueSortedHashMap(final boolean asc) {
        super(DEFAULT_CAPACITY);
        _asc = asc;
    }

    // SNIP: some more constructors with initial capacity and the like

    protected void addEntry(final HashEntry entry, final int hashIndex) {
        final LinkEntry link = (LinkEntry) entry;
        insertSorted(link);
        data[hashIndex] = entry;
    }

    protected void updateEntry(final HashEntry entry, final Object newValue) {
        entry.setValue(newValue);
        final LinkEntry link = (LinkEntry) entry;
        link.before.after = link.after;
        link.after.before = link.before;
        link.after = link.before = null;
        insertSorted(link);
    }

    private void insertSorted(final LinkEntry link) {
        LinkEntry cur = header;
        // iterate whole list, could (should?) be replaced with quicksearch
        // start at end to optimize speed for in-order insertions
        while ((cur = cur.before) != header & amp; & amp; !insertAfter(cur, link)) {}
        link.after = cur.after;
        link.before = cur;
        cur.after.before = link;
        cur.after = link;
    }

    protected boolean insertAfter(final LinkEntry cur, final LinkEntry link) {
        if (_asc) {
            return ((Comparable) cur.getValue())
            .compareTo((V) link.getValue()) & lt; = 0;
        } else {
            return ((Comparable) cur.getValue())
            .compareTo((V) link.getValue()) & gt; = 0;
        }
    }

    public boolean isAscending() {
        return _asc;
    }
}

(3) Write a custom Map or extends from LinkedHashMap that will only sort during enumeration (e.g., values(), keyset(), entryset()) as needed. The inner implementation/behavior is abstracted from the one using this class but it appears to the client of this class that values are always sorted when requested for enumeration. This class hopes that sorting will happen mostly once if all put operations have been completed before enumerations. Sorting method adopts some of the previous answers to this question.

public class SortByValueMap<K, V> implements Map<K, V> {

    private boolean isSortingNeeded = false;

    private final Map<K, V> map = new LinkedHashMap<>();

    @Override
    public V put(K key, V value) {
        isSortingNeeded = true;
        return map.put(key, value);
    }

    @Override
    public void putAll(Map<? extends K, ? extends V> map) {
        isSortingNeeded = true;
        map.putAll(map);
    }

    @Override
    public Set<K> keySet() {
        sort();
        return map.keySet();
    }

    @Override
    public Set<Entry<K, V>> entrySet() {
        sort();
        return map.entrySet();
    }

    @Override
    public Collection<V> values() {
        sort();
        return map.values();
    }

    private void sort() {
        if (!isSortingNeeded) {
            return;
        }

        List<Entry<K, V>> list = new ArrayList<>(size());

        for (Iterator<Map.Entry<K, V>> it = map.entrySet().iterator(); it.hasNext();) {
            Map.Entry<K, V> entry = it.next();
            list.add(entry);
            it.remove();
        }

        Collections.sort(list);

        for (Entry<K, V> entry : list) {
            map.put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
        }

        isSortingNeeded = false;
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        sort();
        return map.toString();
    }
}

(4) Guava offers ImmutableMap.Builder.orderEntriesByValue(Comparator valueComparator) although the resulting map will be immutable:

Configures this Builder to order entries by value according to the specified comparator.

The sort order is stable, that is, if two entries have values that compare as equivalent, the entry that was inserted first will be first in the built map's iteration order.

posting my version of answer

List<Map.Entry<String, Integer>> list = new ArrayList<>(map.entrySet());
    Collections.sort(list, (obj1, obj2) -> obj2.getValue().compareTo(obj1.getValue()));
    Map<String, Integer> resultMap = new LinkedHashMap<>();
    list.forEach(arg0 -> {
        resultMap.put(arg0.getKey(), arg0.getValue());
    });
    System.out.println(resultMap);

There are a lot of answers for this question already, but none provided me what I was looking for, a map implementation that returns keys and entries sorted by the associated value, and maintains this property as keys and values are modified in the map. Two other questions ask for this specifically.

I cooked up a generic friendly example that solves this use case. This implementation does not honor all of the contracts of the Map interface, such as reflecting value changes and removals in the sets return from keySet() and entrySet() in the original object. I felt such a solution would be too large to include in a Stack Overflow answer. If I manage to create a more complete implementation, perhaps I will post it to Github and then to it link in an updated version of this answer.

import java.util.*;

/**
 * A map where {@link #keySet()} and {@link #entrySet()} return sets ordered
 * by associated values based on the the comparator provided at construction
 * time. The order of two or more keys with identical values is not defined.
 * <p>
 * Several contracts of the Map interface are not satisfied by this minimal
 * implementation.
 */
public class ValueSortedMap<K, V> extends HashMap<K, V> {
    protected Map<V, Collection<K>> valueToKeysMap;

    // uses natural order of value object, if any
    public ValueSortedMap() {
        this((Comparator<? super V>) null);
    }

    public ValueSortedMap(Comparator<? super V> valueComparator) {
        this.valueToKeysMap = new TreeMap<V, Collection<K>>(valueComparator);
    }

    public boolean containsValue(Object o) {
        return valueToKeysMap.containsKey(o);
    }

    public V put(K k, V v) {
        V oldV = null;
        if (containsKey(k)) {
            oldV = get(k);
            valueToKeysMap.get(oldV).remove(k);
        }
        super.put(k, v);
        if (!valueToKeysMap.containsKey(v)) {
            Collection<K> keys = new ArrayList<K>();
            keys.add(k);
            valueToKeysMap.put(v, keys);
        } else {
            valueToKeysMap.get(v).add(k);
        }
        return oldV;
    }

    public void putAll(Map<? extends K, ? extends V> m) {
        for (Map.Entry<? extends K, ? extends V> e : m.entrySet())
            put(e.getKey(), e.getValue());
    }

    public V remove(Object k) {
        V oldV = null;
        if (containsKey(k)) {
            oldV = get(k);
            super.remove(k);
            valueToKeysMap.get(oldV).remove(k);
        }
        return oldV;
    }

    public void clear() {
        super.clear();
        valueToKeysMap.clear();
    }

    public Set<K> keySet() {
        LinkedHashSet<K> ret = new LinkedHashSet<K>(size());
        for (V v : valueToKeysMap.keySet()) {
            Collection<K> keys = valueToKeysMap.get(v);
            ret.addAll(keys);
        }
        return ret;
    }

    public Set<Map.Entry<K, V>> entrySet() {
        LinkedHashSet<Map.Entry<K, V>> ret = new LinkedHashSet<Map.Entry<K, V>>(size());
        for (Collection<K> keys : valueToKeysMap.values()) {
            for (final K k : keys) {
                final V v = get(k);
                ret.add(new Map.Entry<K,V>() {
                    public K getKey() {
                        return k;
                    }

                    public V getValue() {
                        return v;
                    }

                    public V setValue(V v) {
                        throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
                    }
                });
            }
        }
        return ret;
    }
}

While I agree that the constant need to sort a map is probably a smell, I think the following code is the easiest way to do it without using a different data structure.

public class MapUtilities {

public static <K, V extends Comparable<V>> List<Entry<K, V>> sortByValue(Map<K, V> map) {
    List<Entry<K, V>> entries = new ArrayList<Entry<K, V>>(map.entrySet());
    Collections.sort(entries, new ByValue<K, V>());
    return entries;
}

private static class ByValue<K, V extends Comparable<V>> implements Comparator<Entry<K, V>> {
    public int compare(Entry<K, V> o1, Entry<K, V> o2) {
        return o1.getValue().compareTo(o2.getValue());
    }
}

}

And here is an embarrassingly incomplete unit test:

public class MapUtilitiesTest extends TestCase {
public void testSorting() {
    HashMap<String, Integer> map = new HashMap<String, Integer>();
    map.put("One", 1);
    map.put("Two", 2);
    map.put("Three", 3);

    List<Map.Entry<String, Integer>> sorted = MapUtilities.sortByValue(map);
    assertEquals("First", "One", sorted.get(0).getKey());
    assertEquals("Second", "Two", sorted.get(1).getKey());
    assertEquals("Third", "Three", sorted.get(2).getKey());
}

}

The result is a sorted list of Map.Entry objects, from which you can obtain the keys and values.

Use a generic comparator such as :

final class MapValueComparator<K,V extends Comparable<V>> implements Comparator<K> {

    private Map<K,V> map;

    private MapValueComparator() {
        super();
    }

    public MapValueComparator(Map<K,V> map) {
        this();
        this.map = map;
    }

    public int compare(K o1, K o2) {
        return map.get(o1).compareTo(map.get(o2));
    }
}

public class Test {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    TreeMap<Integer, String> hm=new TreeMap();
    hm.put(3, "arun singh");
    hm.put(5, "vinay singh");
    hm.put(1, "bandagi singh");
    hm.put(6, "vikram singh");
    hm.put(2, "panipat singh");
    hm.put(28, "jakarta singh");

    ArrayList<String> al=new ArrayList(hm.values());
    Collections.sort(al, new myComparator());

    System.out.println("//sort by values \n");
    for(String obj: al){
        for(Map.Entry<Integer, String> map2:hm.entrySet()){
            if(map2.getValue().equals(obj)){
                System.out.println(map2.getKey()+" "+map2.getValue());
            }
        } 
     }
  }
}

class myComparator implements Comparator{
    @Override
    public int compare(Object o1, Object o2) {
       String o3=(String) o1;
       String o4 =(String) o2;
       return o3.compareTo(o4);
    }   
}

OUTPUT=

//sort by values 

3 arun singh
1 bandagi singh
28 jakarta singh
2 panipat singh
6 vikram singh
5 vinay singh

My solution is a quite simple approach in the way of using mostly given APIs. We use the feature of Map to export its content as Set via entrySet() method. We now have a Set containing Map.Entry objects.

Okay, a Set does not carry an order, but we can take the content an put it into an ArrayList. It now has an random order, but we will sort it anyway.

As ArrayList is a Collection, we now use the Collections.sort() method to bring order to chaos. Because our Map.Entry objects do not realize the kind of comparison we need, we provide a custom Comparator.

public static void main(String[] args) {
    HashMap<String, String> map = new HashMap<>();
    map.put("Z", "E");
    map.put("G", "A");
    map.put("D", "C");
    map.put("E", null);
    map.put("O", "C");
    map.put("L", "D");
    map.put("Q", "B");
    map.put("A", "F");
    map.put(null, "X");
    MapEntryComparator mapEntryComparator = new MapEntryComparator();

    List<Entry<String,String>> entryList = new ArrayList<>(map.entrySet());
    Collections.sort(entryList, mapEntryComparator);

    for (Entry<String, String> entry : entryList) {
        System.out.println(entry.getKey() + " : " + entry.getValue());
    }

}

Since TreeMap<> does not work for values that can be equal, I used this:

private <K, V extends Comparable<? super V>> List<Entry<K, V>> sort(Map<K, V> map)     {
    List<Map.Entry<K, V>> list = new LinkedList<Map.Entry<K, V>>(map.entrySet());
    Collections.sort(list, new Comparator<Map.Entry<K, V>>() {
        public int compare(Map.Entry<K, V> o1, Map.Entry<K, V> o2) {
            return o1.getValue().compareTo(o2.getValue());
        }
    });

    return list;
}

You might want to put list in a LinkedHashMap, but if you're only going to iterate over it right away, that's superfluous...

For sorting upon the keys I found a better solution with a TreeMap (I will try to get a solution for value based sorting ready too):

public static void main(String[] args) {
    Map<String, String> unsorted = new HashMap<String, String>();
    unsorted.put("Cde", "Cde_Value");
    unsorted.put("Abc", "Abc_Value");
    unsorted.put("Bcd", "Bcd_Value");

    Comparator<String> comparer = new Comparator<String>() {
        @Override
        public int compare(String o1, String o2) {
            return o1.compareTo(o2);
        }};

    Map<String, String> sorted = new TreeMap<String, String>(comparer);
    sorted.putAll(unsorted);
    System.out.println(sorted);
}

Output would be:

{Abc=Abc_Value, Bcd=Bcd_Value, Cde=Cde_Value}

When I'm faced with this, I just create a list on the side. If you put them together in a custom Map implementation, it'll have a nice feel to it... You can use something like the following, performing the sort only when needed. (Note: I haven't really tested this, but it compiles... might be a silly little bug in there somewhere)

(If you want it sorted by both keys and values, have the class extend TreeMap, don't define the accessor methods, and have the mutators call super.xxxxx instead of map_.xxxx)

package com.javadude.sample;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.Comparator;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Set;

public class SortedValueHashMap<K, V> implements Map<K, V> {
    private Map<K, V> map_ = new HashMap<K, V>();
    private List<V> valueList_ = new ArrayList<V>();
    private boolean needsSort_ = false;
    private Comparator<V> comparator_;

    public SortedValueHashMap() {
    }
    public SortedValueHashMap(List<V> valueList) {
        valueList_ = valueList;
    }

    public List<V> sortedValues() {
        if (needsSort_) {
            needsSort_ = false;
            Collections.sort(valueList_, comparator_);
        }
        return valueList_;
    }

    // mutators
    public void clear() {
        map_.clear();
        valueList_.clear();
        needsSort_ = false;
    }

    public V put(K key, V value) {
        valueList_.add(value);
        needsSort_ = true;
        return map_.put(key, value);
    }

    public void putAll(Map<? extends K, ? extends V> m) {
        map_.putAll(m);
        valueList_.addAll(m.values());
        needsSort_ = true;
    }

    public V remove(Object key) {
        V value = map_.remove(key);
        valueList_.remove(value);
        return value;
    }

    // accessors
    public boolean containsKey(Object key)           { return map_.containsKey(key); }
    public boolean containsValue(Object value)       { return map_.containsValue(value); }
    public Set<java.util.Map.Entry<K, V>> entrySet() { return map_.entrySet(); }
    public boolean equals(Object o)                  { return map_.equals(o); }
    public V get(Object key)                         { return map_.get(key); }
    public int hashCode()                            { return map_.hashCode(); }
    public boolean isEmpty()                         { return map_.isEmpty(); }
    public Set<K> keySet()                           { return map_.keySet(); }
    public int size()                                { return map_.size(); }
    public Collection<V> values()                    { return map_.values(); }
}

Late Entry.

With the advent of Java-8, we can use streams for data manipulation in a very easy/succinct way. You can use streams to sort the map entries by value and create a LinkedHashMap which preserves insertion-order iteration.

Eg:

LinkedHashMap sortedByValueMap = map.entrySet().stream()
                .sorted(comparing(Entry<Key,Value>::getValue).thenComparing(Entry::getKey))     //first sorting by Value, then sorting by Key(entries with same value)
                .collect(LinkedHashMap::new,(map,entry) -> map.put(entry.getKey(),entry.getValue()),LinkedHashMap::putAll);

For reverse ordering, replace:

comparing(Entry<Key,Value>::getValue).thenComparing(Entry::getKey)

with

comparing(Entry<Key,Value>::getValue).thenComparing(Entry::getKey).reversed()

You can try Guava's multimaps:

TreeMap<Integer, Collection<String>> sortedMap = new TreeMap<>(
        Multimaps.invertFrom(Multimaps.forMap(originalMap), 
        ArrayListMultimap.<Integer, String>create()).asMap());

As a result you get a map from original values to collections of keys that correspond to them. This approach can be used even if there are multiple keys for the same value.

This could be achieved very easily with java 8

public static LinkedHashMap<Integer, String> sortByValue(HashMap<Integer, String> map) {

        List<Map.Entry<Integer, String>> list = new ArrayList<>(map.entrySet());
        list.sort(Map.Entry.comparingByValue());
        LinkedHashMap<Integer, String> sortedMap = new LinkedHashMap<>();
        list.forEach(e -> sortedMap.put(e.getKey(), e.getValue()));
        return sortedMap;
    }

To accomplish this with the new features in Java 8:

import static java.util.Map.Entry.comparingByValue;
import static java.util.stream.Collectors.toList;

<K, V> List<Entry<K, V>> sort(Map<K, V> map, Comparator<? super V> comparator) {
    return map.entrySet().stream().sorted(comparingByValue(comparator)).collect(toList());
}

The entries are ordered by their values using the given comparator. Alternatively, if your values are mutually comparable, no explicit comparator is needed:

<K, V extends Comparable<? super V>> List<Entry<K, V>> sort(Map<K, V> map) {
    return map.entrySet().stream().sorted(comparingByValue()).collect(toList());
}

The returned list is a snapshot of the given map at the time this method is called, so neither will reflect subsequent changes to the other. For a live iterable view of the map:

<K, V extends Comparable<? super V>> Iterable<Entry<K, V>> sort(Map<K, V> map) {
    return () -> map.entrySet().stream().sorted(comparingByValue()).iterator();
}

The returned iterable creates a fresh snapshot of the given map each time it's iterated, so barring concurrent modification, it will always reflect the current state of the map.

Sorting the keys requires the Comparator to look up each value for each comparison. A more scalable solution would use the entrySet directly, since then the value would be immediately available for each comparison (although I haven't backed this up by numbers).

Here's a generic version of such a thing:

public static <K, V extends Comparable<? super V>> List<K> getKeysSortedByValue(Map<K, V> map) {
    final int size = map.size();
    final List<Map.Entry<K, V>> list = new ArrayList<Map.Entry<K, V>>(size);
    list.addAll(map.entrySet());
    final ValueComparator<V> cmp = new ValueComparator<V>();
    Collections.sort(list, cmp);
    final List<K> keys = new ArrayList<K>(size);
    for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
        keys.set(i, list.get(i).getKey());
    }
    return keys;
}

private static final class ValueComparator<V extends Comparable<? super V>>
                                     implements Comparator<Map.Entry<?, V>> {
    public int compare(Map.Entry<?, V> o1, Map.Entry<?, V> o2) {
        return o1.getValue().compareTo(o2.getValue());
    }
}

There are ways to lessen memory rotation for the above solution. The first ArrayList created could for instance be re-used as a return value; this would require suppression of some generics warnings, but it might be worth it for re-usable library code. Also, the Comparator does not have to be re-allocated at every invocation.

Here's a more efficient albeit less appealing version:

public static <K, V extends Comparable<? super V>> List<K> getKeysSortedByValue2(Map<K, V> map) {
    final int size = map.size();
    final List reusedList = new ArrayList(size);
    final List<Map.Entry<K, V>> meView = reusedList;
    meView.addAll(map.entrySet());
    Collections.sort(meView, SINGLE);
    final List<K> keyView = reusedList;
    for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
        keyView.set(i, meView.get(i).getKey());
    }
    return keyView;
}

private static final Comparator SINGLE = new ValueComparator();

Finally, if you need to continously access the sorted information (rather than just sorting it once in a while), you can use an additional multi map. Let me know if you need more details...

Using Guava library:

public static <K,V extends Comparable<V>>SortedMap<K,V> sortByValue(Map<K,V> original){
    var comparator = Ordering.natural()
            .reverse() // highest first
            .nullsLast()
            .onResultOf(Functions.forMap(original, null))
            .compound(Ordering.usingToString());
    return ImmutableSortedMap.copyOf(original, comparator);
}

For sure the solution of Stephen is really great, but for those who can't use Guava:

Here's my solution for sorting by value a map. This solution handle the case where there are twice the same value etc...

// If you want to sort a map by value, and if there can be twice the same value:

// here is your original map
Map<String,Integer> mapToSortByValue = new HashMap<String, Integer>();
mapToSortByValue.put("A", 3);
mapToSortByValue.put("B", 1);
mapToSortByValue.put("C", 3);
mapToSortByValue.put("D", 5);
mapToSortByValue.put("E", -1);
mapToSortByValue.put("F", 1000);
mapToSortByValue.put("G", 79);
mapToSortByValue.put("H", 15);

// Sort all the map entries by value
Set<Map.Entry<String,Integer>> set = new TreeSet<Map.Entry<String,Integer>>(
        new Comparator<Map.Entry<String,Integer>>(){
            @Override
            public int compare(Map.Entry<String,Integer> obj1, Map.Entry<String,Integer> obj2) {
                Integer val1 = obj1.getValue();
                Integer val2 = obj2.getValue();
                // DUPLICATE VALUE CASE
                // If the values are equals, we can't return 0 because the 2 entries would be considered
                // as equals and one of them would be deleted (because we use a set, no duplicate, remember!)
                int compareValues = val1.compareTo(val2);
                if ( compareValues == 0 ) {
                    String key1 = obj1.getKey();
                    String key2 = obj2.getKey();
                    int compareKeys = key1.compareTo(key2);
                    if ( compareKeys == 0 ) {
                        // what you return here will tell us if you keep REAL KEY-VALUE duplicates in your set
                        // if you want to, do whatever you want but do not return 0 (but don't break the comparator contract!)
                        return 0;
                    }
                    return compareKeys;
                }
                return compareValues;
            }
        }
);
set.addAll(mapToSortByValue.entrySet());


// OK NOW OUR SET IS SORTED COOL!!!!

// And there's nothing more to do: the entries are sorted by value!
for ( Map.Entry<String,Integer> entry : set ) {
    System.out.println("Set entries: " + entry.getKey() + " -> " + entry.getValue());
}




// But if you add them to an hashmap
Map<String,Integer> myMap = new HashMap<String,Integer>();
// When iterating over the set the order is still good in the println...
for ( Map.Entry<String,Integer> entry : set ) {
    System.out.println("Added to result map entries: " + entry.getKey() + " " + entry.getValue());
    myMap.put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
}

// But once they are in the hashmap, the order is not kept!
for ( Integer value : myMap.values() ) {
    System.out.println("Result map values: " + value);
}
// Also this way doesn't work:
// Logic because the entryset is a hashset for hashmaps and not a treeset
// (and even if it was a treeset, it would be on the keys only)
for ( Map.Entry<String,Integer> entry : myMap.entrySet() ) {
    System.out.println("Result map entries: " + entry.getKey() + " -> " + entry.getValue());
}


// CONCLUSION:
// If you want to iterate on a map ordered by value, you need to remember:
// 1) Maps are only sorted by keys, so you can't sort them directly by value
// 2) So you simply CAN'T return a map to a sortMapByValue function
// 3) You can't reverse the keys and the values because you have duplicate values
//    This also means you can't neither use Guava/Commons bidirectionnal treemaps or stuff like that

// SOLUTIONS
// So you can:
// 1) only sort the values which is easy, but you loose the key/value link (since you have duplicate values)
// 2) sort the map entries, but don't forget to handle the duplicate value case (like i did)
// 3) if you really need to return a map, use a LinkedHashMap which keep the insertion order

The exec: http://www.ideone.com/dq3Lu

The output:

Set entries: E -> -1
Set entries: B -> 1
Set entries: A -> 3
Set entries: C -> 3
Set entries: D -> 5
Set entries: H -> 15
Set entries: G -> 79
Set entries: F -> 1000
Added to result map entries: E -1
Added to result map entries: B 1
Added to result map entries: A 3
Added to result map entries: C 3
Added to result map entries: D 5
Added to result map entries: H 15
Added to result map entries: G 79
Added to result map entries: F 1000
Result map values: 5
Result map values: -1
Result map values: 1000
Result map values: 79
Result map values: 3
Result map values: 1
Result map values: 3
Result map values: 15
Result map entries: D -> 5
Result map entries: E -> -1
Result map entries: F -> 1000
Result map entries: G -> 79
Result map entries: A -> 3
Result map entries: B -> 1
Result map entries: C -> 3
Result map entries: H -> 15

Hope it will help some folks

Given Map

   Map<String, Integer> wordCounts = new HashMap<>();
    wordCounts.put("USA", 100);
    wordCounts.put("jobs", 200);
    wordCounts.put("software", 50);
    wordCounts.put("technology", 70);
    wordCounts.put("opportunity", 200);

Sort the map based on the value in ascending order

Map<String,Integer>  sortedMap =  wordCounts.entrySet().
                                                stream().
                                                sorted(Map.Entry.comparingByValue()).
        collect(Collectors.toMap(Map.Entry::getKey, Map.Entry::getValue, (e1, e2) -> e1, LinkedHashMap::new));
    System.out.println(sortedMap);

Sort the map based on value in desending order

Map<String,Integer>  sortedMapReverseOrder =  wordCounts.entrySet().
            stream().
            sorted(Map.Entry.comparingByValue(Comparator.reverseOrder())).
            collect(Collectors.toMap(Map.Entry::getKey, Map.Entry::getValue, (e1, e2) -> e1, LinkedHashMap::new));
    System.out.println(sortedMapReverseOrder);

Output:

{software=50, technology=70, USA=100, jobs=200, opportunity=200}

{jobs=200, opportunity=200, USA=100, technology=70, software=50}

Here is an OO solution (i.e., doesn't use static methods):

import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.Comparator;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.LinkedList;
import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;

public class SortableValueMap<K, V extends Comparable<V>>
  extends LinkedHashMap<K, V> {
  public SortableValueMap() { }

  public SortableValueMap( Map<K, V> map ) {
    super( map );
  }

  public void sortByValue() {
    List<Map.Entry<K, V>> list = new LinkedList<Map.Entry<K, V>>( entrySet() );

    Collections.sort( list, new Comparator<Map.Entry<K, V>>() {
      public int compare( Map.Entry<K, V> entry1, Map.Entry<K, V> entry2 ) {
        return entry1.getValue().compareTo( entry2.getValue() );
      }
    });

    clear();

    for( Map.Entry<K, V> entry : list ) {
      put( entry.getKey(), entry.getValue() );
    }
  }

  private static void print( String text, Map<String, Double> map ) {
    System.out.println( text );

    for( String key : map.keySet() ) {
      System.out.println( "key/value: " + key + "/" + map.get( key ) );
    }
  }

  public static void main( String[] args ) {
    SortableValueMap<String, Double> map =
      new SortableValueMap<String, Double>();

    map.put( "A", 67.5 );
    map.put( "B", 99.5 );
    map.put( "C", 82.4 );
    map.put( "D", 42.0 );

    print( "Unsorted map", map );
    map.sortByValue();
    print( "Sorted map", map );
  }
}

Hereby donated to the public domain.

Depending on the context, using java.util.LinkedHashMap<T> which rememebers the order in which items are placed into the map. Otherwise, if you need to sort values based on their natural ordering, I would recommend maintaining a separate List which can be sorted via Collections.sort().

Java 8 offers a new answer: convert the entries into a stream, and use the comparator combinators from Map.Entry:

Stream<Map.Entry<K,V>> sorted =
    map.entrySet().stream()
       .sorted(Map.Entry.comparingByValue());

This will let you consume the entries sorted in ascending order of value. If you want descending value, simply reverse the comparator:

Stream<Map.Entry<K,V>> sorted =
    map.entrySet().stream()
       .sorted(Collections.reverseOrder(Map.Entry.comparingByValue()));

If the values are not comparable, you can pass an explicit comparator:

Stream<Map.Entry<K,V>> sorted =
    map.entrySet().stream()
       .sorted(Map.Entry.comparingByValue(comparator));

You can then proceed to use other stream operations to consume the data. For example, if you want the top 10 in a new map:

Map<K,V> topTen =
    map.entrySet().stream()
       .sorted(Map.Entry.comparingByValue(Comparator.reverseOrder()))
       .limit(10)
       .collect(Collectors.toMap(
          Map.Entry::getKey, Map.Entry::getValue, (e1, e2) -> e1, LinkedHashMap::new));

Or print to System.out:

map.entrySet().stream()
   .sorted(Map.Entry.comparingByValue())
   .forEach(System.out::println);

If you have duplicate keys and only a small set of data (<1000) and your code is not performance critical you can just do the following:

Map<String,Integer> tempMap=new HashMap<String,Integer>(inputUnsortedMap);
LinkedHashMap<String,Integer> sortedOutputMap=new LinkedHashMap<String,Integer>();

for(int i=0;i<inputUnsortedMap.size();i++){
    Map.Entry<String,Integer> maxEntry=null;
    Integer maxValue=-1;
    for(Map.Entry<String,Integer> entry:tempMap.entrySet()){
        if(entry.getValue()>maxValue){
            maxValue=entry.getValue();
            maxEntry=entry;
        }
    }
    tempMap.remove(maxEntry.getKey());
    sortedOutputMap.put(maxEntry.getKey(),maxEntry.getValue());
}

inputUnsortedMap is the input to the code.

The variable sortedOutputMap will contain the data in decending order when iterated over. To change order just change > to a < in the if statement.

Is not the fastest sort but does the job without any additional dependencies.

Here is the code by Java 8 with AbacusUtil

Map<String, Integer> map = N.asMap("a", 2, "b", 3, "c", 1, "d", 2);
Map<String, Integer> sortedMap = Stream.of(map.entrySet()).sorted(Map.Entry.comparingByValue()).toMap(e -> e.getKey(), e -> e.getValue(),
    LinkedHashMap::new);
N.println(sortedMap);
// output: {c=1, a=2, d=2, b=3}

Declaration: I'm the developer of AbacusUtil.

    static <K extends Comparable<? super K>, V extends Comparable<? super V>>
    Map sortByValueInDescendingOrder(final Map<K, V> map) {
        Map re = new TreeMap(new Comparator<K>() {
            @Override
            public int compare(K o1, K o2) {
                if (map.get(o1) == null || map.get(o2) == null) {
                    return -o1.compareTo(o2);
                }
                int result = -map.get(o1).compareTo(map.get(o2));
                if (result != 0) {
                    return result;
                }
                return -o1.compareTo(o2);
            }
        });
        re.putAll(map);
        return re;
    }
    @Test(timeout = 3000l, expected = Test.None.class)
    public void testSortByValueInDescendingOrder() {
        char[] arr = "googler".toCharArray();
        Map<Character, Integer> charToTimes = new HashMap();
        for (int i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
            Integer times = charToTimes.get(arr[i]);
            charToTimes.put(arr[i], times == null ? 1 : times + 1);
        }
        Map sortedByTimes = sortByValueInDescendingOrder(charToTimes);
        Assert.assertEquals(charToTimes.toString(), "{g=2, e=1, r=1, o=2, l=1}");
        Assert.assertEquals(sortedByTimes.toString(), "{o=2, g=2, r=1, l=1, e=1}");
        Assert.assertEquals(sortedByTimes.containsKey('a'), false);
        Assert.assertEquals(sortedByTimes.get('a'), null);
        Assert.assertEquals(sortedByTimes.get('g'), 2);
        Assert.assertEquals(sortedByTimes.equals(charToTimes), true);
    }

I've looked at the given answers, but a lot of them are more complicated than needed or remove map elements when several keys have same value.

Here is a solution that I think fits better:

public static <K, V extends Comparable<V>> Map<K, V> sortByValues(final Map<K, V> map) {
    Comparator<K> valueComparator =  new Comparator<K>() {
        public int compare(K k1, K k2) {
            int compare = map.get(k2).compareTo(map.get(k1));
            if (compare == 0) return 1;
            else return compare;
        }
    };
    Map<K, V> sortedByValues = new TreeMap<K, V>(valueComparator);
    sortedByValues.putAll(map);
    return sortedByValues;
}

Note that the map is sorted from the highest value to the lowest.

If your Map values implement Comparable (e.g. String), this should work

Map<Object, String> map = new HashMap<Object, String>();
// Populate the Map
List<String> mapValues = new ArrayList<String>(map.values());
Collections.sort(mapValues);

If the map values themselves don't implement Comparable, but you have an instance of Comparable that can sort them, replace the last line with this:

Collections.sort(mapValues, comparable);

creates a list of entries for each value, where the values are sorted
requires Java 8 or above

Map<Double,List<Entry<String,Double>>> sorted =
map.entrySet().stream().collect( Collectors.groupingBy( Entry::getValue, TreeMap::new,
    Collectors.mapping( Function.identity(), Collectors.toList() ) ) );

using the map {[A=99.5], [B=67.4], [C=67.4], [D=67.3]}
gets {67.3=[D=67.3], 67.4=[B=67.4, C=67.4], 99.5=[A=99.5]}

…and how to access each entry one after the other:

sorted.entrySet().forEach( e -> e.getValue().forEach( l -> System.out.println( l ) ) );

D=67.3 B=67.4 C=67.4 A=99.5