Why is the sorted() method on Stream not named sort()?
list.stream().sort()
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2Probably because it returns a sorted copy of the list instead of sorting it in place.– BecuzzSep 5, 2017 at 18:45
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1 Answer
According to the documentation, the sorted() method is a stateful intermediate operation.
You can read more about what that means here:
Intermediate operations return a new stream. They are always lazy; executing an intermediate operation such as
filter()does not actually perform any filtering, but instead creates a new stream that, when traversed, contains the elements of the initial stream that match the given predicate.
So sorted() describes the new stream created by the sorted() method, not the act of sorting.
answered Sep 5, 2017 at 18:51
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4The grammar makes sense but is inconsistent with map, filter, etc. I guess it's a legitimate question to ask why there is that discrepancy. Sep 5, 2017 at 19:47
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I guess the main reason is that there is already an interface with a
sortmethod in the JRE, and thatsortmethod sorts in-place. Having a lazy, non-destructive method also calledsortwould be confusing. Sep 6, 2017 at 5:57