java.lang.Long compare(long x, long y)

Description

The Long.compare(long x, long y) java method Compares two long values numerically. The value returned is identical to what would be returned by:

Long.valueOf(x).compareTo(Long.valueOf(y))

Make a note that the compare() method of Long class is static thus it should be accessed statically which means the we would be calling this method in this format:

Long.compare(method args)

Non static method is usually called by just declaring method_name(argument) however in this case since the method is static, it should be called by appending the class name as suffix. We will be encountering a compilation problem if we call the java compare method non statically.

Method Syntax

public static int compare(long x, long y)

Method Argument

Data Type Parameter Description
long x the first long to compare
long y the second long to compare

Method Returns

The compare(long x, long y) method of Long class returns the value 0 if x == y; a value less than 0 if x < y; and a value greater than 0 if x > y

Compatibility

Requires Java 1.7 and up

Java Long compare(long x, long y) Example

Below is a simple java example on the usage of compare(long x, long y) method of Long class.

package com.javatutorialhq.java.examples;

import java.util.Scanner;

/*
 * This example source code demonstrates the use of  
 * compare(long x, long y) method of Long class
 */

public class LongCompareExample {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		
		// Ask for user input
		System.out.print("Enter the first value:");
		
		// declare a scanner object to read the user input
		Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
		
		// assign the input to a variable
		Long value1 = s.nextLong();
		
		
		// Ask for another value
		System.out.print("Enter the second value:");
		Long value2 = s.nextLong();
		
		// compare the two user input
		int result = Long.compare(value1, value2);
		
		// interpret the result
		if(result == 0){
			System.out.println("They are equal");
		}else if(result > 0){
			System.out.println("First Value is greater than the second");			
		}else{
			System.out.println("First Value is less than the second");			
		}		
		
		// close the scanner object
		s.close();
	}

}

Sample Output

Below is the sample output when you run the above example.

Java Long compare(long x, long y) example output