Kotlin Compare Paths

The Paths interface overrides equals() and compareTo(), allowing us to compare paths in the file system.

import java.nio.file.Paths

fun main(args : Array<String>){
    //Get two references to the home directory
    val home = Paths.get(System.getProperty("user.home"))
    val otherHome = Paths.get(System.getProperty("user.home"))
    
    //Get the current working directory
    val cwd = Paths.get(System.getProperty("user.dir"))

    println("$home == $otherHome is " + (home == otherHome))
    println("$home == $cwd is " + (home == cwd))
    println("$home < $cwd is " + (home < cwd))
    println("$cwd < $home is " + (cwd < home))
    println("$home >= $otherHome is " + (home >= otherHome))
}

Output

/Users/stonesoup == /Users/stonesoup is true
/Users/stonesoup == /Users/stonesoup/IdeaProjects/OCJAP is false
/Users/stonesoup < /Users/stonesoup/IdeaProjects/OCJAP is true
/Users/stonesoup/IdeaProjects/OCJAP < /Users/stonesoup is false
/Users/stonesoup >= /Users/stonesoup is true

compareTo(other : Path) : Int

The javadoc states that two paths are compared lexicographically as defined by the file system provider. The default provider uses a platform specific means of comparing file paths.

equals(other : Object) : Boolean

Assuming the other is a Path object and is not associated with a different file system, the paths are equal if they are the same path. Keep in mind that case sensitivity may apply. Mac OS X is case insensitive so “belchers.txt” is the same as “Belchers.TXT”, but on Linux, this would be false.

References

https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/nio/file/Path.htm