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Scala String compareToIgnoreCase() Method with Example

Here, we will learn about the compareToIgnoreCase() method in Scala. It is used to compare two strings in Scala by ignoring cases.
Submitted by Shivang Yadav, on February 05, 2021

String is an immutable collection that stores sequences of characters.

String compareToIgnoreCase() Method

The compareToIgnoreCase() method in Scala is used to compare two strings in Scala by ignoring case differences. It returns an integer value denoting the difference.

The value of comparison is determined as:

• 0, if both strings are the same.
• x, if string1 is greater than string2. The value of x is denoted by the difference of value of characters.
• -x, if string1 is smaller than string2. The value of x is denoted by the difference of value of characters.

Syntax:

string1.compareToIgnoreCase(string2)

Parameters: The method accepts a single parameter which is the string to be compared.

Return Value: It returns an integer value which denotes the result of difference between the strings.

Example 1: When both strings are the same but contain case difference.

object MyClass {
    def main(args: Array[String]) {
        val string1 = "Scala"
        val string2 = "scala"
    
        println("String1 = " + string1)
        println("String2 = " + string2)
    
        val compStr = string1.compareToIgnoreCase(string2)
        println("Value of comparison between '" + string1 + "' and '" + string2 + "' is " + compStr)
    }
}

Output:

String1 = Scala
String2 = scala
Value of comparison between 'Scala' and 'scala' is 0

Here, the result of comparison is zero denoting the string are equal even though they have case difference as we have used the compareToIgnoreCase() method.

Example 2: When both strings are not same.

object MyClass {
    def main(args: Array[String]) {
        val string1 = "Scala"
        val string2 = "scalaProgramming"
    
        println("String1 = " + string1)
        println("String2 = " + string2)
    
        val compStr = string1.compareToIgnoreCase(string2)
        println("Value of comparison between '" + string1 + "' and '" + string2 + "' is " + compStr)
    }
}

Output:

String1 = Scala
String2 = scalaProgramming
Value of comparison between 'Scala' and 'scalaProgramming' is -11

Example 3: When both strings are not the same.

object MyClass {
    def main(args: Array[String]) {
        val string1 = "ScalaProgrammingLanguage"
        val string2 = "scalaProgramming"
    
        println("String1 = " + string1)
        println("String2 = " + string2)
    
        val compStr = string1.compareToIgnoreCase(string2)
        println("Value of comparison between '" + string1 + "' and '" + string2 + "' is " + compStr)
    }
}

Output:

String1 = ScalaProgrammingLanguage
String2 = scalaProgramming
Value of comparison between 'ScalaProgrammingLanguage' and 'scalaProgramming' is 8