sorting a List of Map<String, String>

The following code works perfectly

public Comparator<Map<String, String>> mapComparator = new Comparator<Map<String, String>>() {
    public int compare(Map<String, String> m1, Map<String, String> m2) {
        return m1.get("name").compareTo(m2.get("name"));
    }
}

Collections.sort(list, mapComparator);

But your maps should probably be instances of a specific class.

You should implement a Comparator<Map<String, String>> which basically extracts the "name" value from the two maps it's passed, and compares them.

Then use Collections.sort(list, comparator).

Are you sure a Map<String, String> is really the best element type for your list though? Perhaps you should have another class which contains a Map<String, String> but also has a getName() method?

@Test
public void testSortedMaps() {
    Map<String, String> map1 = new HashMap<String, String>();
    map1.put("name", "Josh");

    Map<String, String> map2 = new HashMap<String, String>();
    map2.put("name", "Anna");

    Map<String, String> map3 = new HashMap<String, String>();
    map3.put("name", "Bernie");

    List<Map<String, String>> mapList = new ArrayList<Map<String, String>>();
    mapList.add(map1);
    mapList.add(map2);
    mapList.add(map3);

    Collections.sort(mapList, new Comparator<Map<String, String>>() {
        public int compare(final Map<String, String> o1, final Map<String, String> o2) {
            return o1.get("name").compareTo(o2.get("name"));
        }
    });

    Assert.assertEquals("Anna", mapList.get(0).get("name"));
    Assert.assertEquals("Bernie", mapList.get(1).get("name"));
    Assert.assertEquals("Josh", mapList.get(2).get("name"));

}