Comparable和Comparator

public interface Comparable<T> {

    public int compareTo(T o);
}

一般是用于比较的对象本身直接来实现，如常见的基本数据类型。

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public interface Comparator<T> {

    int compare(T o1, T o2);

    boolean equals(Object obj);
}

作为比较器对象传入到某个集合中参与比较。在自定义对象中用的比较多，因为一开始我们并不会主动为了让某个类参与比较而实现Comparable，当需要的时候可以实现一个比较器传入，降低耦合性。

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我们平时接触比较多的：Integer、String、TreeMap(TreeSet)、Collections.sort、Arrays.sort等。

Integer：

public final class Integer extends Number implements Comparable<Integer> {


    public int compareTo(Integer anotherInteger) {
        return compare(this.value, anotherInteger.value);
    }

    public static int compare(int x, int y) {
        return (x < y) ? -1 : ((x == y) ? 0 : 1);
    }

     //......
}

String：

public final class String
    implements java.io.Serializable, Comparable<String>, CharSequence {

    public int compareTo(String anotherString) {
        int len1 = value.length;
        int len2 = anotherString.value.length;
        int lim = Math.min(len1, len2);
        char v1[] = value;
        char v2[] = anotherString.value;

        int k = 0;
        while (k < lim) {
            char c1 = v1[k];
            char c2 = v2[k];
            if (c1 != c2) {
                return c1 - c2;
            }
            k++;
        }
        return len1 - len2;
    }

    //......
}

TreeMap的put方法：

 private final Comparator<? super K> comparator;

 public V put(K key, V value) {
        Entry<K,V> t = root;
        if (t == null) {
            compare(key, key); // type (and possibly null) check

            root = new Entry<>(key, value, null);
            size = 1;
            modCount++;
            return null;
        }
        int cmp;
        Entry<K,V> parent;
        // split comparator and comparable paths
        Comparator<? super K> cpr = comparator;
        if (cpr != null) {
            do {
                parent = t;
                cmp = cpr.compare(key, t.key);
                if (cmp < 0)
                    t = t.left;
                else if (cmp > 0)
                    t = t.right;
                else
                    return t.setValue(value);
            } while (t != null);
        }
        else {
            if (key == null)
                throw new NullPointerException();
            Comparable<? super K> k = (Comparable<? super K>) key;
            do {
                parent = t;
                cmp = k.compareTo(t.key);
                if (cmp < 0)
                    t = t.left;
                else if (cmp > 0)
                    t = t.right;
                else
                    return t.setValue(value);
            } while (t != null);
        }
        Entry<K,V> e = new Entry<>(key, value, parent);
        if (cmp < 0)
            parent.left = e;
        else
            parent.right = e;
        fixAfterInsertion(e);
        size++;
        modCount++;
        return null;
    }

该类持有一个Comparator类型的引用，在put的时候，首先会检查 Comparator类型的cpr 是否为null，如果不是则用它来参与比较；如果是，则有：

Comparable<? super K> k = (Comparable<? super K>) key;

利用key实现的Comparable中的compareTo来参与比较。这样就保证了自定义比较器优先，我们甚至可以间接改变基本数据类型的比较方式。

Collections(实际调用Arrays.sort()):

public class Collections {

    public static <T extends Comparable<? super T>> void sort(List<T> list) {
        Object[] a = list.toArray();
        Arrays.sort(a);
        ListIterator<T> i = list.listIterator();
        for (int j=0; j<a.length; j++) {
            i.next();
            i.set((T)a[j]);
        }
    }

    public static <T> void sort(List<T> list, Comparator<? super T> c) {
        Object[] a = list.toArray();
        Arrays.sort(a, (Comparator)c);
        ListIterator i = list.listIterator();
        for (int j=0; j<a.length; j++) {
            i.next();
            i.set(a[j]);
        }
    }

    //......
}

Arrays:

public class Arrays {
    public static <T> void sort(T[] a, int fromIndex, int toIndex,
                                Comparator<? super T> c) {
        if (LegacyMergeSort.userRequested)
            legacyMergeSort(a, fromIndex, toIndex, c);
        else
            TimSort.sort(a, fromIndex, toIndex, c);
    }

    /** To be removed in a future release. */
    private static <T> void legacyMergeSort(T[] a, int fromIndex, int toIndex,
                                            Comparator<? super T> c) {
        rangeCheck(a.length, fromIndex, toIndex);
        T[] aux = copyOfRange(a, fromIndex, toIndex);
        if (c==null)
            mergeSort(aux, a, fromIndex, toIndex, -fromIndex);
        else
            mergeSort(aux, a, fromIndex, toIndex, -fromIndex, c);
    }

    private static void mergeSort(Object[] src,
                                  Object[] dest,
                                  int low, int high, int off,
                                  Comparator c) {
        int length = high - low;

        // Insertion sort on smallest arrays
        if (length < INSERTIONSORT_THRESHOLD) {
            for (int i=low; i<high; i++)
                for (int j=i; j>low && c.compare(dest[j-1], dest[j])>0; j--)
                    swap(dest, j, j-1);
            return;
        }

        // Recursively sort halves of dest into src
        int destLow  = low;
        int destHigh = high;
        low  += off;
        high += off;
        int mid = (low + high) >>> 1;
        mergeSort(dest, src, low, mid, -off, c);
        mergeSort(dest, src, mid, high, -off, c);

        // If list is already sorted, just copy from src to dest.  This is an
        // optimization that results in faster sorts for nearly ordered lists.
        if (c.compare(src[mid-1], src[mid]) <= 0) {
           System.arraycopy(src, low, dest, destLow, length);
           return;
        }

        // Merge sorted halves (now in src) into dest
        for(int i = destLow, p = low, q = mid; i < destHigh; i++) {
            if (q >= high || p < mid && c.compare(src[p], src[q]) <= 0)
                dest[i] = src[p++];
            else
                dest[i] = src[q++];
        }
    }
}

注意JDK1.6和1.7的区别，同时需要关注下TimSort。