Java – String compareTo(String anotherString) method

July 7, 2016 SJ String Handling 0

In this article, we will discuss how to compare two strings using String’s compareTo() method

1. String’s compareTo(String anotherString) method:

  • This String method compares 2 string lexicographically and returns an integer value
    1. Returns 0, if str1 == str2 (both strings are lexicographically equal)
    2. Returns +ve value, if str1 > str2 (1st string lexicographically greater than 2nd string)
    3. Returns -ve value, if str1 < str2 (1st string lexicographically lesser than 2nd string)

1.1 Method Signature:

public int compareTo(String anotherString);

1.2 Returns:

  • Returns an integer value after lexicographical comparison

2. Examples on compareTo() method:

  • Below piece of code depicts lexicographical comparison

StringCompareToMethod.java

package in.bench.resources.string.methods;

public class StringCompareToMethod {

	public static void main(String[] args) {

		String str1 = "Star";
		String str2 = "Star";
		String str3 = "OneStar";
		String str4 = "StarOne";

		// compare 1: for lexicographically equal value
		int compare1 = str1.compareTo(str2);

		// printing to console
		System.out.println("String comparison of str1 and str2 : "
				+ compare1);

		// compare 2: for lexicographically +ve value
		int compare2 = str1.compareTo(str3);

		// printing to console
		System.out.println("String comparison of str1 and str3 : "
				+ compare2);

		// compare 3: for lexicographically -ve value
		int compare3 = str1.compareTo(str4);

		// printing to console
		System.out.println("String comparison of str1 and str4 : "
				+ compare3);
	}
}

Output:

String comparison of str1 and str2 : 0
String comparison of str1 and str3 : 4
String comparison of str1 and str4 : -3

Related Articles:

References:

Happy Coding !!
Happy Learning !!

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