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Technology

Java Programs

Difficulty

Beginner

Interview Question

Write a Java program to sort an array using Arrays.sort() and demonstrate sorting a list of strings.

Answer

Sorting Arrays in Java

Sort Integer Array (Ascending)

Java
import java.util.Arrays;

public class SortArray {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int arr[] = { 64, 34, 25, 12, 22, 11, 90 };

        System.out.println("Before sort: " + Arrays.toString(arr));

        Arrays.sort(arr);  // in-place ascending sort

        System.out.println("After sort:  " + Arrays.toString(arr));
    }
}

Output

CODE
Before sort: [64, 34, 25, 12, 22, 11, 90]
After sort:  [11, 12, 22, 25, 34, 64, 90]

Sort String Array (Alphabetical)

Java
String[] fruits = { "Mango", "Apple", "Banana", "Cherry" };

Arrays.sort(fruits);
System.out.println(Arrays.toString(fruits));
// → [Apple, Banana, Cherry, Mango]

Sort Descending (Integer Array)

Java
// Must use Integer[] (not int[]) for Comparator
Integer[] arr = { 64, 34, 25, 12, 22 };
Arrays.sort(arr, java.util.Comparator.reverseOrder());
System.out.println(Arrays.toString(arr));
// → [64, 34, 25, 22, 12]

Sort ArrayList

Java
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collections;

ArrayList<String> names = new ArrayList<>();
names.add("David");
names.add("Alice");
names.add("Bob");

Collections.sort(names);           // ascending
System.out.println(names);        // [Alice, Bob, David]

Collections.sort(names, Collections.reverseOrder());  // descending
System.out.println(names);        // [David, Bob, Alice]

Sort Part of an Array

Java
int arr[] = { 5, 2, 8, 1, 9, 3 };
Arrays.sort(arr, 1, 4);  // sort index 1 to 3 only (4 is exclusive)
System.out.println(Arrays.toString(arr));
// → [5, 1, 2, 8, 9, 3]

Automation Testing Relevance

Java
// Verify dropdown options are sorted alphabetically
List<WebElement> options = driver.findElements(By.tagName("option"));
List<String> actual = options.stream().map(WebElement::getText).collect(Collectors.toList());
List<String> expected = new ArrayList<>(actual);
Collections.sort(expected);
assertEquals(actual, expected, "Dropdown options not in alphabetical order");

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