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# Java - String compareTo() Method

## Description:

There are two variant of this method. First method compares this String to another Object and second method compares two strings lexicographically.

## Syntax:

Here is the syntax of this method:

    int compareTo(Object o)

    or

    int compareTo(String anotherString)

## Parameters:

Here is the detail of parameters:

- Object o : the Object to be compared.

- String anotherString : the String to be compared.

## Return Value :

- The value 0 if the argument is a string lexicographically equal to this string; a value less than 0 if the argument is a string lexicographically greater than this string; and a value greater than 0 if the argument is a string lexicographically less than this string.

## Example:

    public class Test{
       public static void main(String args[]){
          String str1 = "Strings are immutable";
    	  String str2 = "Strings are immutable";
          String str3 = "Integers are not immutable";

          int result = str1.compareTo( str2 );
          System.out.println(result);

          result = str2.compareTo( str3 );
          System.out.println(result);

          result = str3.compareTo( str1 );
          System.out.println(result);
       }
    }

This produces following result:

    0
    10
    -10

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