How to use a Java8 lambda to sort a stream in reverse order?

Question

You can adapt the solution you linked in How to sort ArrayList<Long> in Java in decreasing order? by wrapping it in a lambda:

.sorted((f1, f2) -> Long.compare(f2.lastModified(), f1.lastModified())

note that f2 is the first argument of Long.compare, not the second, so the result will be reversed.

If your stream elements implements Comparable then the solution becomes simpler:

 ...stream()
 .sorted(Comparator.reverseOrder())

Use

Comparator<File> comparator = Comparator.comparing(File::lastModified); 
Collections.sort(list, comparator.reversed());

Then

.forEach(item -> item.delete());

You can use a method reference:

import static java.util.Comparator.*;
import static java.util.stream.Collectors.*;

Arrays.asList(files).stream()
    .filter(file -> isNameLikeBaseLine(file, baseLineFile.getName()))
    .sorted(comparing(File::lastModified).reversed())
    .skip(numOfNewestToLeave)
    .forEach(item -> item.delete());

In alternative of method reference you can use a lambda expression, so the argument of comparing become:

.sorted(comparing(file -> file.lastModified()).reversed());

Alternative way sharing:

ASC

List<Animal> animals = this.service.findAll();
animals = animals.stream().sorted(Comparator.comparing(Animal::getName)).collect(Collectors.toList());

DESC

List<Animal> animals = this.service.findAll();
animals = animals.stream().sorted(Comparator.comparing(Animal::getName).reversed()).collect(Collectors.toList());

In simple, using Comparator and Collection you can sort like below in reversal order using JAVA 8

import java.util.Comparator;;
import java.util.stream.Collectors;

Arrays.asList(files).stream()
    .sorted(Comparator.comparing(File::getLastModified).reversed())
    .collect(Collectors.toList());

This can easily be done using Java 8 and the use of a reversed Comparator.

I have created a list of files from a directory, which I display unsorted, sorted and reverse sorted using a simple Comparator for the sort and then calling reversed() on it to get the reversed version of that Comparator.

See code below:

package test;

import java.io.File;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.Comparator;
import java.util.Date;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.stream.Collectors;

public class SortTest {
    public static void main(String... args) {
        File directory = new File("C:/Media");
        File[] files = directory.listFiles();
        List<File> filesList = Arrays.asList(files);

        Comparator<File> comparator = Comparator.comparingLong(File::lastModified);
        Comparator<File> reverseComparator = comparator.reversed();

        List<File> forwardOrder = filesList.stream().sorted(comparator).collect(Collectors.toList());
        List<File> reverseOrder = filesList.stream().sorted(reverseComparator).collect(Collectors.toList());

        System.out.println("*** Unsorted ***");
        filesList.forEach(SortTest::processFile);

        System.out.println("*** Sort ***");
        forwardOrder.forEach(SortTest::processFile);

        System.out.println("*** Reverse Sort ***");
        reverseOrder.forEach(SortTest::processFile);
    }

    private static void processFile(File file) {
        try {
            if (file.isFile()) {
                System.out.println(file.getCanonicalPath() + " - " + new Date(file.lastModified()));
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            System.out.println(e.getMessage());
        }
    }
}