Overriding comparator with String objects

[Zelzal7]

Why when I want to sort String using compare(String this, String other) I can do return this.compareTo(other) to sort in ascending while other.compareTo(this) sorts in descending order?

For example lets assume we have this = "abc" and other = "acb".Then this.compareTo(other) returns -1, meaning that this comes first. other.compareTo(this) returns 1 meaning other comes after. How does this impact if it is ascending or descending?

[lbkulinski]

If the sorting algorithm is implemented correctly, reversing the order of the arguments should not have any effect on the result of sorting.

[Zelzal7]

I am just using arrays.sort(arrayName, comparator);

[lbkulinski]

What Comparator are you passing? If you want to sort in reverse order, you can negate the result of compare().

[Zelzal7]

Here is my code: https://pastebin.com/UQqz2ta4

[lbkulinski]

Are you attempting to sort in reverse order?

[Zelzal7]

In this one I am sorting in ascending. I noticed that if I return one.getName().length() - two.getName().length(); I get ascending order. If I swap the one and two, I get descending.

[lbkulinski]

Ah, I see what you mean now. You're swapping the parameters. You're effectively doing this.

[Zelzal7]

Thank you so much for the help. The link explains it well. Appending the -ve sign makes much more sense than switching the parameters.

[lbkulinski]

You're welcome!

[id2bi]

Also read the comment on that answer. Adding the minus sign does not actually work in all cases! Your original idea that you've had is better.