#419 – Override Relational Operators When You Implement IComparable

When a class implements IComparable, it must implement the CompareTo method.  For completeness, you should also override the relational operators.

Here’s an example.

    public class Rectangle : IEquatable<Rectangle>, IComparable<Rectangle>
    {
        public int Height { get; set; }
        public int Width { get; set; }

        public Rectangle(int height, int width)
        {
            Height = height;
            Width = width;
        }

        public override bool Equals(object obj)
        {
            return this.Equals(obj as Rectangle);
        }

        public override int GetHashCode()
        {
            return Height.GetHashCode() ^ Width.GetHashCode();
        }

        public bool Equals(Rectangle r)
        {
            if (ReferenceEquals(r,null))
                return false;

            return ((Height == r.Height) && (Width == r.Width) ||
                    (Height == r.Width) && (Width == r.Height));
        }

        public static bool operator ==(Rectangle r1, Rectangle r2)
        {
            if (ReferenceEquals(r1, null))
            {
                return ReferenceEquals(r2, null) ? true : false;
            }

            return r1.Equals(r2);
        }

        public static bool operator !=(Rectangle r1, Rectangle r2)
        {
            return !(r1 == r2);
        }

        // Result:
        //  < 0 : this instance less than r
        //  = 0 : this instance equivalent to r
        //  > 0 : this instance greater than r
        public int CompareTo(Rectangle r)
        {
            if (ReferenceEquals(r, null))
                return 1;  

            if (this.Equals(r))
                return 0;

            else if (this.Area() == r.Area())
                return this.Width - r.Width;

            else
                return this.Area() - r.Area();
        }

        public static bool operator <(Rectangle r1, Rectangle r2)
        {
            if (ReferenceEquals(r1, null))
                return false;

            else
                return (r1.CompareTo(r2) < 0) ? true : false;
        }

        public static bool operator >(Rectangle r1, Rectangle r2)
        {
            if (ReferenceEquals(r1, null))
                return false;

            else
                return (r1.CompareTo(r2) > 0) ? true : false;
        }

        public static bool operator <=(Rectangle r1, Rectangle r2)
        {
            return (r1 < r2) || (r1 == r2);
        }

        public static bool operator >=(Rectangle r1, Rectangle r2)
        {
            return (r1 > r2) || (r1 == r2);
        }

        public int Area()
        {
            return Height * Width;
        }
    }