How to Implement Natural Sort Order String Comparison in Java?

Natural Sort Order String Comparison in Java

The "natural" sort order, as understood by humans, compares strings based on their numerical and alphabetical components. This differs from the default lexicographic ordering, which prioritizes character order.

In Java, there is no built-in function specifically designed for natural sort order. However, you can achieve this behavior using the following external implementation:

<code class="java">// NaturalOrderComparator.java

// License: Cougaar Open Source License
import java.util.Comparator;

public class NaturalOrderComparator implements Comparator<String> {
    @Override
    public int compare(String s1, String s2) {
        // Split strings into tokens
        String[] s1Tokens = s1.split("(?<=\D)(?=\d)|(?<=\d)(?=\D)");
        String[] s2Tokens = s2.split("(?<=\D)(?=\d)|(?<=\d)(?=\D)");

        // Compare tokens one by one
        int i = 0;
        while (i < Math.min(s1Tokens.length, s2Tokens.length)) {
            try {
                int n1 = Integer.parseInt(s1Tokens[i]);
                int n2 = Integer.parseInt(s2Tokens[i]);

                // Numerical comparison
                if (n1 != n2) {
                    return n1 - n2;
                }
            } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
                // Alphabetical comparison
                int comparison = s1Tokens[i].compareTo(s2Tokens[i]);
                if (comparison != 0) {
                    return comparison;
                }
            }
            i++;
        }

        // If all tokens are equal, compare lengths
        if (s1Tokens.length != s2Tokens.length) {
            return s1Tokens.length - s2Tokens.length;
        }

        // Strings are identical
        return 0;
    }
}</code>

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