• Article

StringComparer.Compare Method (String, String)

Microsoft Silverlight will reach end of support after October 2021. Learn more.

When overridden in a derived class, compares two strings and returns an indication of their relative sort order.

Namespace:  System
Assembly:  mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
Public MustOverride Function Compare ( _
    x As String, _
    y As String _
) As Integer

public abstract int Compare(
    string x,
    string y
)

Parameters

Return Value

Type: System.Int32

Value

Meaning

Less than zero

x is less than y.

-or-

x is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

Zero

x is equal to y.

Greater than zero

x is greater than y.

-or-

y is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

Implements

IComparer<T>.Compare(T, T)

Remarks

The StringComparer.Compare(String, String) method is more efficient than the StringComparer.Compare(Object, Object) method because the x and y parameters do not have to be unboxed to perform the comparison.

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4, 3

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1, Windows Phone OS 7.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: Xbox 360, Windows Phone OS 7.0

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.