How to implement ReverseOrderComparable

Java.Util.Comparable is an interface used for sorting collections. In previous example, we used a MultyField Comparable to sort a list in ascending order by multiple fields. In this example, we will implement a reverse order multy field Comparable in order to achieve a sorting in descending order or in other words in reverse order of whatever is implemented in the Comparable. This can be achieved just by a single line of code as

Comparator c= Collections.reverseOrder();// yes a comparator is used to achieve it.

This example is almost a replica of the previous example. It consists of the following 2 classes.

Employee.java:

package com.soft.model;

public class Employee{

private String name;

private String department;

private int age;

public String getName() {

            return name;

}

public void setName(String name) {

            this.name = name;

}

public String getDepartment() {

            return department;

}

public void setDepartment(String department) {

            this.department = department;

}

public int getAge() {

            return age;

}

public void setAge(int age) {

            this.age = age;

}

@Override

public int compareTo(Object obj) {

            Employee employee=(Employee)obj;

            if(this.getName().compareTo(employee.getName())==0){

                        if(this.getDepartment().compareTo(employee.getDepartment())==0){

                                    return this.getAge()-employee.getAge();

                        }else{

                                    return this.getDepartment().compareTo(employee.getDepartment());

                        }

            }else{

                        return this.getName().compareTo(employee.getName());

            }

}

}

MultyFieldComparableExample.java:

package com.soft.examples;

import java.util.ArrayList;

import java.util.Collections;

import java.util.List;

import com.soft.model.Employee;

public class MultyFieldComparableExample {

            public static void main(String[] args) {

                        List<Employee> list= new ArrayList<Employee>();

                        Employee e=new Employee();

                        e.setName("Danial Fritz");

                        e.setDepartment("Field Based Development");

                        e.setAge(36);

                        list.add(e);

                        e=new Employee();

                        e.setName("Denis Khoo");

                        e.setDepartment("Project Management");

                        e.setAge(30);

                        list.add(e);

                        e=new Employee();

                        e.setName("Joe Kum");

                        e.setDepartment("Adminstration");

                        e.setAge(40);

                        list.add(e);

                        e=new Employee();

                        e.setName("Anil Kumar");

                        e.setDepartment("Information Technology");

                        e.setAge(26);

                        list.add(e);

                        e=new Employee();

                        e.setName("Anil Kumar");

                        e.setDepartment("Information Technology");

                        e.setAge(26);

                        list.add(e);

                        e=new Employee();

                        e.setName("Anil Kumar");

                        e.setDepartment("Information Technology");

                        e.setAge(25);

                        list.add(e);

                        e=new Employee();

                        e.setName("Anil Kumar");

                        e.setDepartment("Project Management");

                        e.setAge(26);

                        list.add(e);

                        System.out.println("************ Before Sorting ***********");

                        for (int i=0;i< list.size();i++){

                                    System.out.println(list.get(i).getName()+"-----"+list.get(i).getDepartment()+"-----"+list.get(i).getAge());

                        }

                        System.out.println("**Name, Department, Age Sorting through Comparable **");

                        Collections.sort(list);

                        for (int i=0;i< list.size();i++){

                                    System.out.println(list.get(i).getName()+"-----"+list.get(i).getDepartment()+"-----"+list.get(i).getAge());

                        }

System.out.println("** Name, Department, Age Sorting through Comparable In Descending Order**");

Collections.sort(list,Collections.reverseOrder());

for (int i=0;i< list.size();i++){

System.out.println(list.get(i).getName()+"-----"+list.get(i).getDepartment()+"-----"+list.get(i).getAge());

}

                       

            }

}

Output:

************ Before Sorting ***********

Danial Fritz   ----- Field Based Development   ----- 36

Denis Khoo     ----- Project Management        ----- 30

Joe Kum        ----- Adminstration             ----- 40

Anil Kumar     ----- Information Technology    ----- 26

Anil Kumar     ----- Information Technology    ----- 26

Anil Kumar     ----- Information Technology    ----- 25

Anil Kumar-----Project Management-----26

** Name, Department, Age Sorting through Comparable **

Anil Kumar     ----- Information Technology     ----- 25

Anil Kumar     ----- Information Technology     ----- 26

Anil Kumar     ----- Information Technology     ----- 26

Anil Kumar     ----- Project Management         ----- 26

Danial Fritz   ----- Field Based Development    ----- 36

Denis Khoo     ----- Project Management         ----- 30

Joe Kum        ----- Adminstration              ----- 40

** Name, Department, Age Sorting through Comparable in Descending Order**

Joe Kum        ----- Adminstration                     ----- 40

Denis Khoo   ----- Project Management           ----- 30

Danial Fritz   ----- Field Based Development   ----- 36

Anil Kumar   ----- Project Management           ----- 26

Anil Kumar   ----- Information Technology     ----- 26

Anil Kumar   ----- Information Technology     ----- 26

Anil Kumar   ----- Information Technology     ----- 25

An example of a simple MultyField Comparable can be found at

How to implement MultyFieldComparable 

You may also find the following articles helpful.

How to implement ReverseOrderComparator

How to implement MultyFieldComparable

How to implement a java.lang.Comparable

How to implement a java.UtilComparator

Differences between Comparator and Comparable