CompareTo provides a strongly typed comparison method for ordering members of a generic collection object. Because of this, it is usually not called directly from developer code. Instead, it is called automatically by methods such as List<(Of <(T>)>)..::.Sort()()() and Add.
This method is only a definition and must be implemented by a specific class or value type to have effect. The meaning of the comparisons, "less than," "equal to," and "greater than," depends on the particular implementation.
By definition, any object compares greater than nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic), and two null references compare equal to each other.
Notes to Implementers:
For objects A, B, and C, the following must be true:
A.CompareTo(A) is required to return zero.
If A.CompareTo(B) returns zero, then B.CompareTo(A) is required to return zero.
If A.CompareTo(B) returns zero and B.CompareTo(C) returns zero, then A.CompareTo(C) is required to return zero.
If A.CompareTo(B) returns a value other than zero, then B.CompareTo(A) is required to return a value of the opposite sign.
If A.CompareTo(B) returns a value x that is not equal to zero, and B.CompareTo(C) returns a value y of the same sign as x, then A.CompareTo(C) is required to return a value of the same sign as x and y.
Notes to Callers:
Use the CompareTo method to determine the ordering of instances of a class.