comparators.FloatComparator Maven / Gradle / Ivy

Go to download
package net.mintern.primitive.comparators;

/**
 * A comparison function that imposes total ordering on {@code float} values.
 * 
 * This is a {@code @FunctionalInterface} even though it isn't declared as one,
 * so that it can be used in Java 6+.
 */
public interface FloatComparator {

    /**
     * Compares {@code f1} and {@code f2}. Returns a negative value to indicate
     * that {@code f1 < f2}, 0 to indicate that {@code f1 == f2}, and a positive
     * value to indicate that {@code f1 > f2}.
     * 

     * Implementations of this method must maintain the following invariants:
     * 

     *  {@code s(compare(x, y)) == -s(compare(y, x))}
     *  
{@code s(compare(x, y)) == s(compare(y, z))} →
     *      {@code s(compare(x, y)) == s(compare(x, z))} (transitivity)
     *  
{@code compare(x, y) == 0} →
     *      {@code s(compare(x, z)) == s(compare(y, z))} ∀ {@code z}
     * 
     * 
     * where {@code s(x)} is defined as follows:
     * 

     *  {@code x < 0}: -1
     *  
{@code x == 0}: 0
     *  
{@code x > 0}: 1
     * 
     * Important Note
     * A floating-point compare implementation must be careful to maintain
     * total ordering, in particular when comparing -0.0, 0.0, @{code NaN},
     * {@link Float#NEGATIVE_INFINITY}, and {@link Float#POSITIVE_INFINITY}
     * values. See {@link Float#compareTo(Float)} for a valid example.
     *
     * @param f1 the first float to compare
     * @param f2 the second float to compare
     * @return a negative value, 0, or a positive value to indicate that
     *      {@code f1} is less than, equal to, or greater than {@code f2},
     *      respectively
     */
    int compare(float f1, float f2);
}