Thread: What does compareTo method of String do ?

Hi all,

I am just working through all the methods for String in java.

I am on compareTo at the moment but have to say i dont really know what it does, i have a small working program here to test it:

package testing;
 
import java.lang.String;
 
public class testpage {
public static void main(String[] args) { 
 
 
    String myString = "abcdef";
    String myStringTwo = "regkaneighuornag";
 
    int myInt = myString.compareTo(myStringTwo);
 
    System.out.println(myInt);
 
}
}

And my result for myInt is: -17

But what does this -17 actually mean ? Thanks. All java docs say is ''Compares two strings lexicographically."

But i dont know what this is.

I was looking at 'Method Summary' I hadnt scrolled Down and seen all the ''Method Detail'' for each method.

Anyhow, having read it, i understand it compares each index. My issue is why is it returning -17 when the longest string is of length 16.

I would think it should be returning -16 at most, if no index's match up. ?

I understand it now, it compares the first one, if equal, moves to the next.

Compares this instance with a specified object or String and returns an integer that indicates whether this instance precedes, follows, or appears in the same position in the sort order as the specified object or String.