System.Collections.Comparer Class

public sealed class Comparer : IComparer

Base Types

Object
  Comparer

This type implements IComparer.

Assembly

mscorlib

Library

BCL

Summary

Provides the default implementation of the IComparer interface.

See Also

System.Collections Namespace

Members

Comparer Methods

Comparer.Compare Method

Comparer Fields

Comparer.Default Field

Returns the sort order of two Object instances.

Parameters

a

The first Object to compare.

b

The second Object to compare.

Return Value

The return value is a negative number, zero, or a positive number reflecting the sort order of a as compared to b. For non-zero return values, the exact value returned by this method is unspecified. The following table defines the return value:

Value	Condition
A negative number	a < b.
Zero	a == b.
A positive number	a > b.

[Note: A null reference is considered to compare less than any other non-null object, and equal to any other null reference, independent of the underlying Type of either object.]

Exceptions

Exception Type	Condition
ArgumentException	Both a and b are not null and do not implement the IComparable interface. -or- Both a and b are not null and are not assignment-compatible types.

Description

The behavior of this method is as follows:

• If a implements the IComparable interface, returns a.CompareTo(b).

• If a does not implement the IComparable interface but b does, returns the negated result of b.CompareTo(a).

• If a and b both are not null and do not implement the IComparable interface, ArgumentException is thrown.

See Also

System.Collections.Comparer Class, System.Collections Namespace

Returns a new Comparer instance containing the default implementation of the IComparer interface.

Description

This field is read-only.

See Also

System.Collections.Comparer Class, System.Collections Namespace