Sorting list of objects on multiple fields using Comparator in Java

In previous articles, we have discussed how to sort list of objects on the basis of single field using Comparable and Comparator interface

Read below articles for sorting ArrayList contents in both ascending and descending order on the basis of single field (i.e.; member variable)

But, what if we have a requirement to sort ArrayList of objects in accordance with 2 or 3 fields like

1^st sort, according to customer name
secondly sort according to customer city
and 3^rd sorting with respect to customer age

Steps to sort ArrayList contents w.r.t 3 member variables of Customer class:

Define Customer class with 3 member variables namely customer name, city and age
Write a custom sorting logic to sort Customer member variables wrt 3 fields as per sequence (Name –> City –> Age)
Main test class, where we are going to create ArrayList and inserts some 10+ entries of Customer objects
Finally printing Customer objects before & after custom sorting logic from main class

Customer.java

package in.bench.resources.customized.sorting.multiple.fields;

public class Customer {

	// instance member variables
	String custName;
	String custCity;
	Integer custAge;

	// 3-arg parameterized constructor
	public Customer(String custName, 
			String custCity, int custAge) {
		this.custName = custName;
		this.custCity = custCity;
		this.custAge = custAge;
	}

	// getter & setter
	public String getCustName() {
		return custName;
	}

	public void setCustName(String custName) {
		this.custName = custName;
	}

	public String getCustCity() {
		return custCity;
	}

	public void setCustCity(String custCity) {
		this.custCity = custCity;
	}

	public Integer getCustAge() {
		return custAge;
	}

	public void setCustAge(Integer custAge) {
		this.custAge = custAge;
	}

	// overriding toString() method
	@Override
	public String toString() {
		return "Customer ["
				+ "custName=" + custName 
				+ ", custCity=" + custCity
				+ ", custAge=" + custAge
				+ "]";
	}
}

CustomerSortingComparator.java

package in.bench.resources.customized.sorting.multiple.fields;

import java.util.Comparator;

public class CustomerSortingComparator 
								implements Comparator<Customer> {

	@Override
	public int compare(Customer cust1, Customer cust2) {

		// all comparison
		int compareName = cust1.getCustName()
				.compareTo(cust2.getCustName());
		int compareCity = cust1.getCustCity()
				.compareTo(cust2.getCustCity());
		int compareAge = cust1.getCustAge()
				.compareTo(cust2.getCustAge());

		// 3-level comparison using if-else block
		if(compareName == 0) {
			return ((compareCity == 0) ? compareAge : compareCity);
		}
		else {
			return compareName;
		}
	}
}

CustomerSortingTest.java

package in.bench.resources.customized.sorting.multiple.fields;

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

public class CustomerSortingTest {

	public static void main(String[] args) {

		// create List & ArrayList reference to store customers
		List<Customer> listOfCustomers = new ArrayList<Customer>();

		// create customer objects using constructor initialization
		Customer cust1 = new Customer("Shalini", "Chennai", 60);
		Customer cust2 = new Customer("Sneha", "Pune",  73);
		Customer cust3 = new Customer("Simran", "Bangalore", 37);
		Customer cust4 = new Customer("Trisha", "Hyderabad", 52);
		Customer cust5 = new Customer("Shalini", "Chennai", 70);
		Customer cust6 = new Customer("Abirami", "Bangalore", 48);
		Customer cust7 = new Customer("Trisha", "Mangalore", 45);
		Customer cust8 = new Customer("Sneha", "Pune", 62);
		Customer cust9 = new Customer("Shalini", "Chennai",  50);

		// add customer objects to ArrayList
		listOfCustomers.add(cust1);
		listOfCustomers.add(cust2);
		listOfCustomers.add(cust3);
		listOfCustomers.add(cust4);
		listOfCustomers.add(cust5);
		listOfCustomers.add(cust6);
		listOfCustomers.add(cust7);
		listOfCustomers.add(cust8);
		listOfCustomers.add(cust9);


		// before Sorting: iterate using Iterator & while-loop
		Iterator<Customer> custIterator = 
				listOfCustomers.iterator();

		System.out.println("Before Sorting: iterate using"
				+ " Iterator & while-loop\n");
		while(custIterator.hasNext()) {
			System.out.println(custIterator.next());
		}

		// sorting using Collections.sort(al, comparator);
		Collections.sort(listOfCustomers, 
				new CustomerSortingComparator());

		// after Sorting: iterate using enhanced for-loop
		System.out.println("\n\nAfter Sorting: iterate using"
				+ " enhanced for-loop\n");
		for(Customer customer : listOfCustomers) {
			System.out.println(customer);
		}
	}
}

Output:

Before Sorting: iterate using Iterator & while-loop

Customer [custName=Shalini, custCity=Chennai, custAge=60]
Customer [custName=Sneha, custCity=Pune, custAge=73]
Customer [custName=Simran, custCity=Bangalore, custAge=37]
Customer [custName=Trisha, custCity=Hyderabad, custAge=52]
Customer [custName=Shalini, custCity=Chennai, custAge=70]
Customer [custName=Abirami, custCity=Bangalore, custAge=48]
Customer [custName=Trisha, custCity=Mangalore, custAge=45]
Customer [custName=Sneha, custCity=Pune, custAge=62]
Customer [custName=Shalini, custCity=Chennai, custAge=50]


After Sorting: iterate using enhanced for-loop

Customer [custName=Abirami, custCity=Bangalore, custAge=48]
Customer [custName=Shalini, custCity=Chennai, custAge=50]
Customer [custName=Shalini, custCity=Chennai, custAge=60]
Customer [custName=Shalini, custCity=Chennai, custAge=70]
Customer [custName=Simran, custCity=Bangalore, custAge=37]
Customer [custName=Sneha, custCity=Pune, custAge=62]
Customer [custName=Sneha, custCity=Pune, custAge=73]
Customer [custName=Trisha, custCity=Hyderabad, custAge=52]
Customer [custName=Trisha, custCity=Mangalore, custAge=45]

References:

Happy Coding !!
Happy Learning !!

BenchResources.Net

Java tutorial for beginners

Steps to sort ArrayList contents w.r.t 3 member variables of Customer class:

Customer.java

CustomerSortingComparator.java

CustomerSortingTest.java

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