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Java String compareTo() Method

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Core idea

What is the main idea behind Java String compareTo() Method?

Lesson checks

Practice each idea before moving on

Short Mimo-style checks built from this lesson's code, terms, and sequence.

1Quick choice

Which statement best captures the main point of this lesson?

2Fill blank

Complete the missing token from the example code.

___ myStr1 = "Hello";
3Order

Put the learning moves in the order that makes the concept easiest to apply.

The compareTo() method compares two strings lexicographically.
Definition and Usage
Java String compareTo() Method

❮ String Methods

Example

String myStr1 = "Hello";
String myStr2 = "Hello";
System.out.println(myStr1.compareTo(myStr2)); // Returns 0 because they are equal

Definition and Usage

The compareTo() method compares two strings lexicographically.

The comparison is based on the Unicode value of each character in the strings.

The method returns 0 if the string is equal to the other string. A value less than 0 is returned if the string is less than the other string (less characters) and a value greater than 0 if the string is greater than the other string (more characters).

Tip

Use compareToIgnoreCase() to compare two strings lexicographyically, ignoring lower case and upper case differences.

Tip

Use the equals() method to compare two strings without consideration of Unicode values.

One of the following

public int compareTo(String
string2 )
public int compareTo(Object
object )

Parameter Values

ParameterDescription
string2A String , representing the other string to be compared
objectAn Object , representing an object to be compared

Technical Details

Returns:An int value: 0 if the string is equal to the other string. < 0 if the string is lexicographically less than the other string > 0 if the string is lexicographically greater than the other string (more characters)

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Java String compareToIgnoreCase() Method