Package org.apache.commons.io.comparator

Provides various Comparator implementations for Files and Path.

Sorting

All the comparators include convenience utility sort(File...) and sort(List) methods.

For example, to sort the files in a directory by name: 

 File[] files = dir.listFiles();
 NameFileComparator.NAME_COMPARATOR.sort(files);

...alternatively you can do this in one line: 

 File[] files = NameFileComparator.NAME_COMPARATOR.sort(dir.listFiles());

Composite Comparator

The CompositeFileComparator can be used to compare (and sort lists or arrays of files) by combining a number of other comparators.

For example, to sort an array of files by type (i.e. directory or file) and then by name: 

 CompositeFileComparator comparator =
 new CompositeFileComparator(
 DirectoryFileComparator.DIRECTORY_COMPARATOR,
 NameFileComparator.NAME_COMPARATOR);
 File[] files = dir.listFiles();
 comparator.sort(files);

Singleton Instances (thread-safe)

The Comparator implementations have some convenience singleton(thread-safe) instances ready to use: