How to sort ArrayList in descending order in Java

In this tutorial, you will learn how to sort an ArrayList in descending order.

Example 1: Sorting an ArrayList in Descending order

We are using Collections.reverseOrder() method along with Collections.sort() in order to sort the list in decreasing order. In this example, we are using the following statement for sorting the list in reverse order.
Collections.sort(arraylist, Collections.reverseOrder());

You can also sort an ArrayList in descending order like this. This way the list will be sorted in ascending order first and then it will be reversed.

Collections.sort(list);
Collections.reverse(list);

Source code:
In this example, we have an ArrayList of string type. We have added few elements to it using add() method, we are sorting the ArrayList using Collections.sort(). In the end, we are printing the sorted ArrayList.

import java.util.*;
public class JavaExample  {

  public static void main(String args[]){
    ArrayList<String> arraylist = new ArrayList<String>();
    arraylist.add("AA");
    arraylist.add("ZZ");
    arraylist.add("CC");
    arraylist.add("FF");

    /*Unsorted List: ArrayList content before sorting*/
    System.out.println("Before Sorting:");
    for(String str: arraylist){
      System.out.println(str);
    }

    /* Sorting in decreasing order*/
    Collections.sort(arraylist, Collections.reverseOrder());

    /* Sorted List in reverse order*/
    System.out.println("ArrayList in descending order:");
    for(String str: arraylist){
      System.out.println(str);
    }
  }
}

Output:

Before Sorting:
AA
ZZ
CC
FF
ArrayList in descending order:
ZZ
FF
CC
AA

In the above example we have sorted the ArrayList of String type (ArrayList<String>), the logic is same for other type of ArrayList as well.

Example 2: Sorting an ArrayList in descending order using Collections.reverse()

import java.util.*;
public class JavaExample  {

  public static void main(String args[]){
    ArrayList<String> arrList = new ArrayList<String>();
    arrList.add("Chaitanya");
    arrList.add("BeginnersBook");
    arrList.add("Tutorials");
    arrList.add("Website");

    /*Unsorted List: ArrayList content before sorting*/
    System.out.println("Before Sorting:");
    for(String str: arrList){
      System.out.println(str);
    }

    // Sorting in decreasing order
    Collections.sort(arrList); //sorting in ascending order
    Collections.reverse(arrList); //reversing the sorted list

    // print sorted arraylist
    System.out.println();//new line
    System.out.println("After sorting: ");
    for(String str: arrList){
      System.out.println(str);
    }
  }
}

Output:

Before Sorting:
Chaitanya
BeginnersBook
Tutorials
Website

After sorting: 
Website
Tutorials
Chaitanya
BeginnersBook

Recommended Articles:

• Sorting ArrayList of Objects
• Swap two elements in an ArrayList
• Empty an ArrayList in Java
• Override toString() method for ArrayList