Thread: How to Sort an Array using the java.util.Arrays class

Here is a tutorial on how to use the java.util.Arrays class to sort Array values.

This example sorts an Array of Integers from the smallest to largest value:

import java.util.Arrays;
 
public class HowToSortAnArray {
 
 public static void main(String[] args) {
 
  //Array of Integers
  int[] myIntArray = new int[]{20,100,69,4};
 
  //SORTS ARRAY FROM SMALLEST TO LARGEST INT
  Arrays.sort(myIntArray);
 
  //for loop to print Array values to console
  for (int a = 0; a < myIntArray.length; a++) {
   System.out.println(myIntArray[a]);
  }
 
 }
}
//Output: 4 20 69 100

Using the same example as above but with a String Array, this will sort the values by case and then into alphabetical order:

import java.util.Arrays;
 
public class HowToSortAnArray {
 
 public static void main(String[] args) {
 
  String[] myStrArray = new String[] {"c", "b", "a", "D"};
 
  //SORTS STRING ARRAY INTO CASE & THEN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
  Arrays.sort(myStrArray);
 
  //for loop to print int values to console
  for (int a = 0; a < myStrArray.length; a++) {
   System.out.println(myStrArray[a]);
  }
 
 }
}
//Output: D a b c

To sort into alphabetical order and be case insensitive you can use:

import java.util.Arrays;
 
public class HowToSortAnArray {
 
 public static void main(String[] args) {
 
  String[] myStrArray = new String[] {"c", "b", "a", "D"};
 
  //SORTS ARRAY INTO ALPHABETICAL ORDER
  Arrays.sort(myStrArray, String.CASE_INSENSITIVE_ORDER);
 
  //for loop to print int values to console
  for (int a = 0; a < myStrArray.length; a++) {
   System.out.println(myStrArray[a]);
  }
 
 }
}
//Output: a b c D

Thanks for the useful post.

Spring 3