import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.Collections; import java.util.List; public class Main { public static void main(String[] args) { List<String> l1 = new ArrayList<String>(); List<String> l2 = new ArrayList<String>(); l1.add("a"); l1.add("b"); l1.add("c"); l2.add("b"); l2.add("c"); l2.add("a"); if (isSorted(l1)) { System.out.println("already sorted"); } else { Collections.sort(l1); } } public static boolean isSorted(List<String> list) { String previous = ""; for (String current : list) { if (current.compareTo(previous) < 0) return false; previous = current; } return true; } }