Java Collections min() Method

The min() is a Java Collections class method which returns the minimum value for the given inputs. There is two different types of Java min() method which can be differentiated depending on its parameter. These are:

Java Collections min(coll) Method
Java Collections min(coll, comp) Method

Java Collections min(coll) Method

The min() method of Java Collections class is used to get the minimum element of the given collection, according to the natural ordering of its elements.

Java Collections min(coll, comp) Method

The min() method of Java Collections class is used to get the minimum element of the given collection, according to the order induced by the specified comparator.

Syntax

Following is the declaration of min() method:

public static <T extends Object & Comparable<? super T>> T min(Collection<? extends T> coll)

public static <T> T min(Collection<? extends T> coll, Comparator<? super T> comp)

Parameter

Parameter	Description	Required/Optional
coll	It is the collection whose minimum element is to be determined.	Required
comp	It is the the comparator with which we determine the minimum element.	Required

Returns

Method	Returns
min(Collection<? extends T> coll)	It returns the minimum element of the given collection, according to the natural ordering of its elements.
min(Collection<? extends T> coll, Comparator<? super T> comp)	It returns the minimum element of the given collection, according to the order of the specified comparable.

Exceptions

The min() method throws the following exceptions-

ClassCastException- It throws this exception if the collection contains elements that are not mutually comparable (for example, strings and integers).

NoSuchElementException- It throws this exception if the collection is empty.

Compatibility Version

Java 1.4 and above

Example 1

import java.util.*;
public class CollectionsMinExample1 {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		//Create collection    
	      List<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();	      
	      //Add values in the list
	      list.add("D");
	      list.add("F");
	      list.add("E");
	      list.add("R");
	      list.add("S");	    	      
	      //Comparing using order of the specified comparable
	      System.out.println("Mininum character is: " + Collections.min(list,null)); 
	      }
}

Test it Now

Output:

Minimum character is: E

Example 2

import java.util.*;
public class CollectionsMinExample2 {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		//Create collections lists  
		List<Integer> list = Arrays.asList(20, 10, 100, 140, 250);
            Integer min = Collections.min(list);
            System.out.println("Minimum element is: "+min);
	      }
}

Test it Now

Output:

Minimum element is: 10

Example 3

import java.util.*;
public class CollectionsMinExample3 {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
	     //Create link list object
           List<Integer> list = new LinkedList<Integer>();
           //Populate the list
           list.add(-80);
           list.add(40);
           list.add(-50);
           list.add(20); 
           //Comparing using order of the specified comparable
           System.out.println("Min val: "+Collections.min(list));
           System.out.println("Min val in reverse order: "+Collections.min(list, Collections.reverseOrder()));
	     }
}

Test it Now

Output:

Min val: -80
Min val in reverse order: 40

Example 4

import java.util.*;
public class CollectionsMinExample4 {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		//Create collection    
	      List<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();	      
	      //Add values in the list
	      list.add("Java");
	      list.add("COBOL");
	      list.add("PHP");
	      list.add("Ruby");
	      list.add("XML");	    	      
	      //Comparing using natural ordering
	      System.out.println("Mininum character is: " + Collections.min(list)); 
	      }
}

Test it Now

Output: