您的自定义类可以实现“Comparable”接口，这需要CompareTo方法的实现。在CompareTo方法中，您可以定义一个对象小于或大于另一个对象意味着什么。所以在你的例子中，它看起来是这样的:

public class MyCustomClass implements Comparable<MyCustomClass>{

．．．．．．．．．．

 @Override
public int compareTo(MyCustomClass a) {
    if(this.getStartDate().before(a.getStartDate())){
        return -1;
    }else if(a.getStartDate().before(this.getStartDate())){
        return 1;
    }else {
        return 0;
    }
}

负数表示它小于与之比较的对象。正数表示这比对象的比较大，零表示对象相等。

然后，可以使用collections.sort(myList)对列表进行排序，而不必输入比较器。如果使用TreeSet或TreeMap等已排序的集合数据结构，则此方法还具有自动排序的优点。

如果您想阅读更多关于Comparable接口的信息，可以查看这篇文章(披露:我是作者;)) https://nullbeans.com/the-java-comparable-interface-automatic-sort-of-collections/

1.8以来的新功能是一个List.sort()方法，而不是使用Collection.sort() 直接调用mylistcontainer。sort()

下面是一个演示List.sort()特性的代码片段:

List<Fruit> fruits = new ArrayList<Fruit>();
fruits.add(new Fruit("Kiwi","green",40));
fruits.add(new Fruit("Banana","yellow",100));
fruits.add(new Fruit("Apple","mixed green,red",120));
fruits.add(new Fruit("Cherry","red",10));

// a) using an existing compareto() method
fruits.sort((Fruit f1,Fruit f2) -> f1.getFruitName().compareTo(f2.getFruitName()));
System.out.println("Using String.compareTo(): " + fruits);
//Using String.compareTo(): [Apple is: mixed green,red, Banana is: yellow, Cherry is: red, Kiwi is: green]

// b) Using a comparable class
fruits.sort((Fruit f1,Fruit f2) -> f1.compareTo(f2));  
System.out.println("Using a Comparable Fruit class (sort by color): " + fruits);
// Using a Comparable Fruit class (sort by color): [Kiwi is green, Apple is: mixed green,red, Cherry is: red, Banana is: yellow]

Fruit类是:

public class Fruit implements Comparable<Fruit>
{
    private String name;
    private String color;
    private int quantity;

    public Fruit(String name,String color,int quantity)
    { this.name = name; this.color = color; this.quantity = quantity; }

    public String getFruitName() { return name; }        
    public String getColor() { return color; }  
    public int getQuantity() { return quantity; }

    @Override public final int compareTo(Fruit f) // sorting the color
    {
        return this.color.compareTo(f.color);
    }     
    @Override public String toString()
    {   
        return (name + " is: " + color);
    }
} // end of Fruit class   

是的，你可以。比较项有两个选项，Comparable接口和Comparator接口。

这两个接口都允许不同的行为。Comparable允许您使对象的行为与您刚刚描述的String类似(实际上，String实现了Comparable)。第二个，Comparator，允许你做你要求做的事情。你会这样做:

Collections.sort(myArrayList, new MyComparator());

这将导致收集。方法来使用比较器的排序机制。如果数组列表中的对象实现了可比性，你可以这样做:

Collections.sort(myArrayList);

Collections类包含许多这些有用的常用工具。

具有自然排序顺序的类(例如类Number)应该实现Comparable接口，而没有自然排序顺序的类(例如类Chair)应该提供Comparator(或匿名Comparator类)。

两个例子:

public class Number implements Comparable<Number> {
    private int value;

    public Number(int value) { this.value = value; }
    public int compareTo(Number anotherInstance) {
        return this.value - anotherInstance.value;
    }
}

public class Chair {
    private int weight;
    private int height;

    public Chair(int weight, int height) {
        this.weight = weight;
        this.height = height;
    }
    /* Omitting getters and setters */
}
class ChairWeightComparator implements Comparator<Chair> {
    public int compare(Chair chair1, Chair chair2) {
        return chair1.getWeight() - chair2.getWeight();
    }
}
class ChairHeightComparator implements Comparator<Chair> {
    public int compare(Chair chair1, Chair chair2) {
        return chair1.getHeight() - chair2.getHeight();
    }
}

用法:

List<Number> numbers = new ArrayList<Number>();
...
Collections.sort(numbers);

List<Chair> chairs = new ArrayList<Chair>();
// Sort by weight:
Collections.sort(chairs, new ChairWeightComparator());
// Sort by height:
Collections.sort(chairs, new ChairHeightComparator());

// You can also create anonymous comparators;
// Sort by color:
Collections.sort(chairs, new Comparator<Chair>() {
    public int compare(Chair chair1, Chair chair2) {
        ...
    }
});

你可以试试番石榴点菜:

Function<Item, Date> getStartDate = new Function<Item, Date>() {
    public Date apply(Item item) {
        return item.getStartDate();
    }
};

List<Item> orderedItems = Ordering.natural().onResultOf(getStartDate).
                          sortedCopy(items);

对于数组列表的排序，你可以使用下面的代码片段:

Collections.sort(studList, new Comparator<Student>(){
    public int compare(Student s1, Student s2) {
        return s1.getFirstName().compareToIgnoreCase(s2.getFirstName());
    }
});