Comparable vs. Comparator in Java

Comparable and Comparator are two interfaces provided by Java Core API. From their names, we can tell they may be used for comparing stuff in some way. But what exactly are they and what is the difference between them? The following are two examples for answering this question. The simple examples compare two HDTV's size. How to use Comparable vs. Comparator is obvious after reading the code.

1. Comparable

Comparable is implemented by a class in order to be able to comparing object of itself with some other objects. The class itself must implement the interface in order to be able to compare its instance(s). The method required for implementation is compareTo(). Here is an example:

class HDTV implements Comparable<HDTV> {
	private int size;
	private String brand;
 
	public HDTV(int size, String brand) {
		this.size = size;
		this.brand = brand;
	}
 
	public int getSize() {
		return size;
	}
 
	public void setSize(int size) {
		this.size = size;
	}
 
	public String getBrand() {
		return brand;
	}
 
	public void setBrand(String brand) {
		this.brand = brand;
	}
 
	@Override
	public int compareTo(HDTV tv) {
 
		if (this.getSize() > tv.getSize())
			return 1;
		else if (this.getSize() < tv.getSize())
			return -1;
		else
			return 0;
	}
}
 
public class Main {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HDTV tv1 = new HDTV(55, "Samsung");
		HDTV tv2 = new HDTV(60, "Sony");
 
		if (tv1.compareTo(tv2) > 0) {
			System.out.println(tv1.getBrand() + " is better.");
		} else {
			System.out.println(tv2.getBrand() + " is better.");
		}
	}
}
Sony is better.

2. Comparator

In some situations, you may not want to change a class and make it comparable. In such cases,Comparator can be used if you want to compare objects based on certain attributes/fields. For example, 2 persons can be compared based on `height` or `age` etc. (this can not be done using comparable.)

The method required to implement is compare(). Now let's use another way to compare those TV by size. One common use of Comparator is sorting. Both Collections and Arrays classes provide a sort method which use a Comparator.

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.Comparator;
 
class HDTV {
	private int size;
	private String brand;
 
	public HDTV(int size, String brand) {
		this.size = size;
		this.brand = brand;
	}
 
	public int getSize() {
		return size;
	}
 
	public void setSize(int size) {
		this.size = size;
	}
 
	public String getBrand() {
		return brand;
	}
 
	public void setBrand(String brand) {
		this.brand = brand;
	}
}
 
class SizeComparator implements Comparator<HDTV> {
	@Override
	public int compare(HDTV tv1, HDTV tv2) {
		int tv1Size = tv1.getSize();
		int tv2Size = tv2.getSize();
 
		if (tv1Size > tv2Size) {
			return 1;
		} else if (tv1Size < tv2Size) {
			return -1;
		} else {
			return 0;
		}
	}
}
 
public class Main {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HDTV tv1 = new HDTV(55, "Samsung");
		HDTV tv2 = new HDTV(60, "Sony");
		HDTV tv3 = new HDTV(42, "Panasonic");
 
		ArrayList<HDTV> al = new ArrayList<HDTV>();
		al.add(tv1);
		al.add(tv2);
		al.add(tv3);
 
		Collections.sort(al, new SizeComparator());
		for (HDTV a : al) {
			System.out.println(a.getBrand());
		}
	}
}
Output:

Panasonic
Samsung
Sony

Often we may use  Collections.reverseOrder()  method to get a descending order Comparator. Like the following:

rrayList<Integer> al = new ArrayList<Integer>();
al.add(3);
al.add(1);
al.add(2);
System.out.println(al);
Collections.sort(al);
System.out.println(al);
 
Comparator<Integer> comparator = Collections.reverseOrder();
Collections.sort(al,comparator);
System.out.println(al);
Output:

[3,1,2]
[1,2,3]
[3,2,1]

3. When to use Which?

In brief, a class that implements Comparable will be comparable, which means it instances can be compared with each other.

A class that implements Comparator will be used in mainly two situations: 1) It can be passed to a sort method, such as Collections.sort() or Arrays.sort(), to allow precise control over the sort order and 2) It can also be used to control the order of certain data structures, such as sorted sets (e.g. TreeSet) or sorted maps (e.g., TreeMap).

For example, to create a TreeSet. We can either pass the constructor a comparator or make the object class comparable.

Approach 1 - TreeSet(Comparator comparator)

class Dog {
	int size;
 
	Dog(int s) {
		size = s;
	}
}
 
class SizeComparator implements Comparator<Dog> {
	@Override
	public int compare(Dog d1, Dog d2) {
		return d1.size - d2.size;
	}
}
 
public class ImpComparable {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		TreeSet<Dog> d = new TreeSet<Dog>(new SizeComparator()); // pass comparator
		d.add(new Dog(1));
		d.add(new Dog(2));
		d.add(new Dog(1));
	}
}

Approach 2 - Implement Comparable

class Dog implements Comparable<Dog>{
	int size;
 
	Dog(int s) {
		size = s;
	}
 
	@Override
	public int compareTo(Dog o) {
		return o.size - this.size;
	}
}
 
public class ImpComparable {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		TreeSet<Dog> d = new TreeSet<Dog>();
		d.add(new Dog(1));
		d.add(new Dog(2));
		d.add(new Dog(1));
	}
}
References:
1. Comparable
2. Comparator

References:
1.  Comparable
2.  Comparator