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IComparer Interface

Definition

Exposes a method that compares two objects.

public interface IComparer
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)]
public interface IComparer
Derived
Attributes

Examples

The following example uses the IComparer interface to sort a string array. In this example, the Compare method is implemented using the CaseInsensitiveComparer class to reverse the order of the contents of the array.

using System;
using System.Collections;

public class Example
{
   public class ReverserClass : IComparer
   {
      // Call CaseInsensitiveComparer.Compare with the parameters reversed.
      int IComparer.Compare(Object x, Object y)
      {
          return ((new CaseInsensitiveComparer()).Compare(y, x));
      }
   }

   public static void Main()
   {
      // Initialize a string array.
      string[] words = { "The", "quick", "brown", "fox", "jumps", "over",
                         "the", "lazy", "dog" };

      // Display the array values.
      Console.WriteLine("The array initially contains the following values:" );
      PrintIndexAndValues(words);

      // Sort the array values using the default comparer.
      Array.Sort(words);
      Console.WriteLine("After sorting with the default comparer:" );
      PrintIndexAndValues(words);

      // Sort the array values using the reverse case-insensitive comparer.
      Array.Sort(words, new ReverserClass());
      Console.WriteLine("After sorting with the reverse case-insensitive comparer:");
      PrintIndexAndValues(words);
   }

   public static void PrintIndexAndValues(IEnumerable list)
   {
      int i = 0;
      foreach (var item in list )
         Console.WriteLine($"   [{i++}]:  {item}");

      Console.WriteLine();
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       The array initially contains the following values:
//          [0]:  The
//          [1]:  quick
//          [2]:  brown
//          [3]:  fox
//          [4]:  jumps
//          [5]:  over
//          [6]:  the
//          [7]:  lazy
//          [8]:  dog
//
//       After sorting with the default comparer:
//          [0]:  brown
//          [1]:  dog
//          [2]:  fox
//          [3]:  jumps
//          [4]:  lazy
//          [5]:  over
//          [6]:  quick
//          [7]:  the
//          [8]:  The
//
//       After sorting with the reverse case-insensitive comparer:
//          [0]:  the
//          [1]:  The
//          [2]:  quick
//          [3]:  over
//          [4]:  lazy
//          [5]:  jumps
//          [6]:  fox
//          [7]:  dog
//          [8]:  brown

Remarks

This interface is used in conjunction with the Array.Sort and Array.BinarySearch methods. It provides a way to customize the sort order of a collection. See the Compare method for notes on parameters and return value. Its generic equivalent is the System.Collections.Generic.IComparer<T> interface.

The default implementation of this interface is the Comparer class. For the generic version of this interface, see System.Collections.Generic.IComparer<T>.

Methods

Compare(Object, Object)

Compares two objects and returns a value indicating whether one is less than, equal to, or greater than the other.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1
UWP 10.0

See also