Java tutorial
//package com.java2s; import java.util.Collections; import java.util.Comparator; import java.util.HashMap; import java.util.Iterator; import java.util.LinkedHashMap; import java.util.LinkedList; import java.util.List; import java.util.Map; public class Main { @SuppressWarnings("unchecked") public static HashMap<?, ?> sortByValue(HashMap<?, ?> map, final int flag) { // flag = 0 decreasing order otherwise increasing List list = new LinkedList(map.entrySet()); Collections.sort(list, new Comparator() { public int compare(Object o1, Object o2) { if (flag == 0) return ((Comparable) ((Map.Entry) (o2)).getValue()).compareTo(((Map.Entry) (o1)).getValue()); else return ((Comparable) ((Map.Entry) (o1)).getValue()).compareTo(((Map.Entry) (o2)).getValue()); } }); HashMap result = new LinkedHashMap(); for (Iterator it = list.iterator(); it.hasNext();) { Map.Entry entry = (Map.Entry) it.next(); result.put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue()); } return result; } }