Alphabetically Sort a Java Collection based upon the 'toString' value of its member items

Question

Assume I have a user defined Java class called Foo such as:

public class Foo 
{

    private String aField;

    @Override
    public String toString()
    {         


        

Answer 1

I would strongly advise you to only use toString for debugging purposes... however... to expand on what Yuval A wrote above...

public class X
    implements Comparator
{
    public int compare(final Foo a, final Foo b) 
    {
        return (a.toString().compareTo(b.toString()));
    }
}

However you really should have Foo implement Comarable or write a proper Compartor that does not make use of toString.