How do I sort an array of strings?

Question

I'm new to Java, and I wrote code that sorts numbers, but I was trying to convert it to sort strings and it won't work. What is the most basic way of sorting strings in alphabetical order?

@Satya - Wont work.. It sorts in Natural order, `X` will come before `a` — TheLostMind, Feb 17 '16 at 06:50

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 17 '16 at 06:51

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Simply do it as below:

Arrays.sort(name);

answered Feb 17 '16 at 06:51

Bahramdun Adil

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Where/how would I initialize Arrays.sort()? – KidKool Feb 17 '16 at 06:53
`Arrays` is a Util class in Java, Just import it and you can use its methods. No need to init that, all methods are in `static` – Bahramdun Adil Feb 17 '16 at 06:54

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 17 '16 at 06:53

0

Java Strings are Comparables, meaning they have a compareTo method which can be used to compare two such objects. a.compareTo(b) will return a negative value if a is logically less than b, a positive value if a is greater than b or 0 if they are equal.

So you can keep your entire logical flow and just change the comparison check - instead of if (name[y] > name[y+1] ) you'd need to use if (name[y].compareTo(name[y+1]) > 0 ).

answered Feb 17 '16 at 06:53

Mureinik

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Thank you. You just solved all my problems. Thanks for explaining and hat link to the old question was very helpful too. – KidKool Feb 17 '16 at 06:58

How do I sort an array of strings?

2 Answers2