In a Java class I have a method to reOrder an existing HashMap by date. The HashMap is of a type <String, Object>
where the Object contains a field called expPayDate and the key string is a sequential number turned into a string.. So I need to loop through the items in the sourceMap and find the item with the newest date then copy it to a tempMap in the correct order. My issue is what is the best way to determine the item with the newest date.
Your best bet will be to use a SortedMap with the Comparator interface.
Here is an example:
public SortedMap<String, Object> getSortedMap(Map<String, Object> originalMap) {
SortedMap<String, Object> tmpMap = new TreeMap<String, Object>(new Comparator<String>(){
@Override
public int compare(String key1, String key2) {
//logic for comparing dates
}
});
tmpMap.putAll(originalMap);
return tmpMap;
}