Question

I need to create and order an array of objects, problem is the objects cannot be ordered by themselves. Instead they are ordered based off an integer value. So I thought of using a 2d array.

 Object[][] array = new Object[][]

That way I can store in the array the

 [integer to order the objects][object]

But the problem is I don’t know how many objects there will be that need to be ordered, so, do I need to use an Arraylist instead?

Either way, is it possible to use a collection.sort command, and how can I possible get an array to behave as described?

Thanks

Answer 1

You need to forget about raw arrays and start thinking in terms of the Java Collections Framework.

For sorting use a TreeMap<Integer, Object>. After you’ve put all your objects in, you can use values() to get the objects in proper order.

Using the map you have also eliminated all problems of size determination.