java.lang.Short compare​(short x, short y)

Description

The compare​(short x, short y) method of Short class compares two short values numerically. The value returned is identical to what would be returned by:

Short.valueOf(x).compareTo(Short.valueOf(y))

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

Short.compare​(short x, short y)

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​(short x, short y)

Method Argument

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

Method Returns

The compare​(short x, short y) method of Short 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 Short compare​(short x, short y) Example

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

package com.javatutorialhq.java.examples;

/*
 * This example source code demonstrates the use of 
 * compare​(short x, short y) method of Short class.
 */

public class CompareExample {

	public static void main(String[] args) {

		// assign  new short primitives
		short x = 12;
		short y = 15;
		short z = 12;
		
		
		// x less than y
		int result = Short.compare(x, y);		
		System.out.println("Result:"+result);
		
		// x equal to z
		result = Short.compare(x, z);
		System.out.println("Result:"+result);
		
		// y greater than z
		result = Short.compare(y, z);
		System.out.println("Result:"+result);		

	}

}

Basically on the above example, we have assigned 3 short primitive x,y,and z. There are 3 examples provided, the first one is when we compare x and y, the second one is x and z, and the last is y and z.

In comparing x and y, the result is -3 which is the difference between x and y. Since the result is less than 0, then we can conclude that x is less than y.

On the second comparison between x and z, the result is 0. As you have already noticed the value of x and z is the same.

For the 3rd example, the comparison is done between y and z. The result would be 3 which is greater than 0. This result means that y is greater than z.

Sample Output

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

Java Short compare(short x, short y) method example output

Suggested Reading List

References