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Comparable vs Comparator

In Java, both Comparable and Comparator are interfaces used for sorting objects, but they serve different purposes and have distinct characteristics.

The Comparable interface is implemented by a class to define its natural ordering. It requires the class to override the compareTo() method, which compares the current object with another object of the same class. This means that a class can only have one natural ordering, and it is tightly coupled with the class itself. For example, if you have a class MyClass, you would implement Comparable<MyClass> and provide the logic for comparison within the compareTo() method ¹⁵.

On the other hand, the Comparator interface is used to define custom ordering for objects of a class that does not implement Comparable. It allows for multiple sorting criteria without modifying the original class. A separate class implements the Comparator interface and overrides the compare() method to provide the comparison logic. This flexibility is useful when you want to sort objects in different ways ²⁴⁵.

In summary, use Comparable for a single natural ordering within a class and Comparator for multiple sorting strategies externally.

Comparable and Comparator

Essential Java

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Comparator

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The Comparator interface is used to order objects of an arbitrary class . It is not to be confused with the Comparable interface, which is implemented by the class to be sorted. The Comparator interfa...

Comparable

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The compareTo and compare Methods

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