BigInteger compareTo() Method in Java (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 12 May, 2022

The java.math.BigInteger.compareTo(BigInteger value) method Compares this BigInteger with the BigInteger passed as the parameter.

Syntax:

public int compareTo(BigInteger val)

Parameter: This method accepts a single mandatory parameter val which is the BigInteger to compare with BigInteger object.

Return Type: This method returns the following:

• 0: if the value of this BigInteger is equal to that of the BigInteger object passed as a parameter.
• 1: if the value of this BigInteger is greater than that of the BigInteger object passed as a parameter.
• -1: if the value of this BigInteger is less than that of the BigInteger object passed as a parameter.

Examples:

Input: BigInteger1=2345, BigInteger2=7456 Output: -1 Explanation: BigInteger1.compareTo(BigInteger2)=-1.

Input: BigInteger1=9834, BigInteger2=7456 Output: 1 Explanation: BigInteger1.compareTo(BigInteger2)=1.

Example 1: Below programs illustrate the compareTo() method of BigInteger class when both BigIntegers are equal

Java `

// Java program to demonstrate // compareTo() method of BigInteger

import java.math.BigInteger;

public class GFG {

public static void main(String[] args)
{
    // Creating 2 BigInteger objects
    BigInteger b1, b2;

    b1 = new BigInteger("321456");
    b2 = new BigInteger("321456");

    // apply compareTo() method
    int comparevalue = b1.compareTo(b2);

    // print result
    if (comparevalue == 0) {

        System.out.println("BigInteger1 "
                           + b1 + " and BigInteger2 "
                           + b2 + " are equal");
    }       
}

}

`

Output:

BigInteger1 321456 and BigInteger2 321456 are equal

Example 2: when BigInteger1 is greater than BigInteger2

Java `

// Java program to demonstrate // compareTo() method of BigInteger

import java.math.BigInteger;

public class GFG {

public static void main(String[] args)
{
    // Creating 2 BigInteger objects
    BigInteger b1, b2;

    b1 = new BigInteger("654321");
    b2 = new BigInteger("321456");

    // apply compareTo() method
    int comparevalue = b1.compareTo(b2);

    // print result
    if (comparevalue == 1) {

        System.out.println("BigInteger1 " + b1 + "
            is greater than BigInteger2 " + b2);
    }
   
}

}

`

Output:

BigInteger1 654321 is greater than BigInteger2 321456

Example 3: When BigInteger1 is lesser than BigInteger2

Java `

// Java program to demonstrate // compareTo() method of BigInteger

import java.math.BigInteger;

public class GFG {

public static void main(String[] args)
{
    // Creating 2 BigInteger objects
    BigInteger b1, b2;

    b1 = new BigInteger("321456");
    b2 = new BigInteger("564321");

    // apply compareTo() method
    int comparevalue = b1.compareTo(b2);

    // print result        
    if(comparevalue == -1) {

        System.out.println("BigInteger1 " + b1 + "
             is lesser than BigInteger2 " + b2);
    }
}

}

`

Output:

BigInteger1 321456 is lesser than BigInteger2 564321