Sort on a string that may contain a number

Question

I need to write a Java Comparator class that compares Strings, however with one twist. If the two strings it is comparing are the same at the beginning and end of the strin

Answer 1

Although the question asked a java solution, for anyone who wants a scala solution:

object Alphanum {

   private[this] val regex = "((?<=[0-9])(?=[^0-9]))|((?<=[^0-9])(?=[0-9]))"

   private[this] val alphaNum: Ordering[String] = Ordering.fromLessThan((ss1: String, ss2: String) => (ss1, ss2) match {
     case (sss1, sss2) if sss1.matches("[0-9]+") && sss2.matches("[0-9]+") => sss1.toLong < sss2.toLong
     case (sss1, sss2) => sss1 < sss2
   })

   def ordering: Ordering[String] = Ordering.fromLessThan((s1: String, s2: String) => {
     import Ordering.Implicits.infixOrderingOps
     implicit val ord: Ordering[List[String]] = Ordering.Implicits.seqDerivedOrdering(alphaNum)

     s1.split(regex).toList < s2.split(regex).toList
   })

}