Comparable and Comparator both are interfaces and can be used to sort collection elements.
There are many differences between Comparable and Comparator interfaces that are stated below.
| Comparable | Comparator |
|---|---|
| Comparable provides a single sorting sequence. In other words, we can sort the collection on the basis of a single element such as id, name, and price. | The Comparator provides multiple sorting sequences. In other words, we can sort the collection on the basis of multiple elements such as id, name, and price etc. |
| Comparable affects the original class, i.e., the actual class is modified. | Comparator doesn’t affect the original class, i.e., the actual class is not modified. |
| Comparable provides compareTo() method to sort elements. | Comparator provides compare() method to sort elements. |
| Comparable is present in java.lang package. | A Comparator is present in the java.util package. |
| We can sort the list elements of Comparable type by Collections.sort(List) method. | We can sort the list elements of Comparator type by Collections.sort(List, Comparator) method. |