Sort on a string that may contain a number

Question

I need to write a Java Comparator class that compares Strings, however with one twist. If the two strings it is comparing are the same at the beginning and end of the strin

Answer 1

If you're writing a comparator class, you should implement your own compare method that will compare two strings character by character. This compare method should check if you're dealing with alphabetic characters, numeric characters, or mixed types (including spaces). You'll have to define how you want a mixed type to act, whether numbers come before alphabetic characters or after, and where spaces fit in etc.