How to sort by two fields in Java?

Question

I have array of objects person (int age; String name;).

How can I sort this array alphabetically by name and then by age?

Which algorithm would

Answer 1

You can use Collections.sort as follows:

private static void order(List<Person> persons) {

    Collections.sort(persons, new Comparator() {

        public int compare(Object o1, Object o2) {

            String x1 = ((Person) o1).getName();
            String x2 = ((Person) o2).getName();
            int sComp = x1.compareTo(x2);

            if (sComp != 0) {
               return sComp;
            } 

            Integer x1 = ((Person) o1).getAge();
            Integer x2 = ((Person) o2).getAge();
            return x1.compareTo(x2);
    }});
}

List<Persons> is now sorted by name, then by age.

String.compareTo "Compares two strings lexicographically" - from the docs.

Collections.sort is a static method in the native Collections library. It does the actual sorting, you just need to provide a Comparator which defines how two elements in your list should be compared: this is achieved by providing your own implementation of the compare method.

Answer 2

Guava's ComparisonChain provides a clean way of doing it. Refer to this link.

A utility for performing a chained comparison statement. For example:

   public int compareTo(Foo that) {
     return ComparisonChain.start()
         .compare(this.aString, that.aString)
         .compare(this.anInt, that.anInt)
         .compare(this.anEnum, that.anEnum, Ordering.natural().nullsLast())
         .result();
   }

Answer 3

For a class Book like this:

package books;

public class Book {

    private Integer id;
    private Integer number;
    private String name;

    public Integer getId() {
        return id;
    }

    public void setId(Integer id) {
        this.id = id;
    }

    public Integer getNumber() {
        return number;
    }

    public void setNumber(Integer number) {
        this.number = number;
    }

    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }

    public void setName(String name) {
        this.name = name;
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "book{" +
                "id=" + id +
                ", number=" + number +
                ", name='" + name + '\'' + '\n' +
                '}';
    }
}

sorting main class with mock objects

package books;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.Comparator;
import java.util.List;


public class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println("Hello World!");

        Book b = new Book();

        Book c = new Book();

        Book d = new Book();

        Book e = new Book();

        Book f = new Book();

        Book g = new Book();
        Book g1 = new Book();
        Book g2 = new Book();
        Book g3 = new Book();
        Book g4 = new Book();




        b.setId(1);
        b.setNumber(12);
        b.setName("gk");

        c.setId(2);
        c.setNumber(12);
        c.setName("gk");

        d.setId(2);
        d.setNumber(13);
        d.setName("maths");

        e.setId(3);
        e.setNumber(3);
        e.setName("geometry");

        f.setId(3);
        f.setNumber(34);
        b.setName("gk");

        g.setId(3);
        g.setNumber(11);
        g.setName("gk");

        g1.setId(3);
        g1.setNumber(88);
        g1.setName("gk");
        g2.setId(3);
        g2.setNumber(91);
        g2.setName("gk");
        g3.setId(3);
        g3.setNumber(101);
        g3.setName("gk");
        g4.setId(3);
        g4.setNumber(4);
        g4.setName("gk");





        List<Book> allBooks = new ArrayList<Book>();

        allBooks.add(b);
        allBooks.add(c);
        allBooks.add(d);
        allBooks.add(e);
        allBooks.add(f);
        allBooks.add(g);
        allBooks.add(g1);
        allBooks.add(g2);
        allBooks.add(g3);
        allBooks.add(g4);



        System.out.println(allBooks.size());


        Collections.sort(allBooks, new Comparator<Book>() {

            @Override
            public int compare(Book t, Book t1) {
                int a =  t.getId()- t1.getId();

                if(a == 0){
                    int a1 = t.getNumber() - t1.getNumber();
                    return a1;
                }
                else
                    return a;
            }
        });
        System.out.println(allBooks);

    }


   }

Answer 4

I'm not sure if it's ugly to write the compartor inside the Person class in this case. Did it like this:

public class Person implements Comparable <Person> {

    private String lastName;
    private String firstName;
    private int age;

    public Person(String firstName, String lastName, int BirthDay) {
        this.firstName = firstName;
        this.lastName = lastName;
        this.age = BirthDay;
    }

    public int getAge() {
        return age;
    }

    public String getFirstName() {
        return firstName;
    }

    public String getLastName() {
        return lastName;
    }

    @Override
    public int compareTo(Person o) {
        // default compareTo
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return firstName + " " + lastName + " " + age + "";
    }

    public static class firstNameComperator implements Comparator<Person> {
        @Override
        public int compare(Person o1, Person o2) {
            return o1.firstName.compareTo(o2.firstName);
        }
    }

    public static class lastNameComperator implements Comparator<Person> {
        @Override
        public int compare(Person o1, Person o2) {
            return o1.lastName.compareTo(o2.lastName);
        }
    }

    public static class ageComperator implements Comparator<Person> {
        @Override
        public int compare(Person o1, Person o2) {
            return o1.age - o2.age;
        }
    }
}
public class Test {
    private static void print() {
       ArrayList<Person> list = new ArrayList();
        list.add(new Person("Diana", "Agron", 31));
        list.add(new Person("Kay", "Panabaker", 27));
        list.add(new Person("Lucy", "Hale", 28));
        list.add(new Person("Ashley", "Benson", 28));
        list.add(new Person("Megan", "Park", 31));
        list.add(new Person("Lucas", "Till", 27));
        list.add(new Person("Nicholas", "Hoult", 28));
        list.add(new Person("Aly", "Michalka", 28));
        list.add(new Person("Adam", "Brody", 38));
        list.add(new Person("Chris", "Pine", 37));
        Collections.sort(list, new Person.lastNameComperator());
        Iterator<Person> it = list.iterator();
        while(it.hasNext()) 
            System.out.println(it.next().toString()); 
     }  
}