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Java 8 Streams - Stream.min Examples

[Last Updated: Nov 8, 2025]

Java 8 Streams Java Java API 

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Interface:

java.util.stream.Stream

java.lang.AutoCloseableAutoCloseablejava.util.stream.BaseStreamBaseStreamjava.util.stream.StreamStreamLogicBig

Method:

Optional<T> min(Comparator<? super T> comparator)

This terminal operation returns the minimum element of this stream according to the provided Comparator. This is a special case of a reduction.


Examples


package com.logicbig.example.stream;

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.Optional;

public class MinExample {

    public static void main(String... args) {
        String[] s = {"one", "two", "three", "four"};
        Optional<String> min = Arrays.stream(s)
                                     .min(String::compareTo);
        if (min.isPresent()) {
            System.out.println(min.get());
        }
    }
}

Output

four




package com.logicbig.example.stream;

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.Comparator;

public class MinExample2 {

    public static void main(String... args) {
        String[] s = {"aaaa", "aaa", "a", "aaaaa"};
        String str = Arrays.stream(s)
                           .min(Comparator.comparingInt(String::length))
                           .orElseGet(String::new);
        System.out.println(str);
    }
}

Output

a




Using Stream#min method and comparing it with equivalent reduce operation: 

package com.logicbig.example;

import java.util.Optional;
import java.util.stream.Stream;

public class MinExample {
    public static void main (String[] args) {
        runMin();
        runEquivalentReduce();
    }

    private static void runMin () {
        String s = Stream.of("banana", "pie", "apple")
                         .min(String::compareTo) //dictionary order
                         .orElse("None");

        System.out.println(s);
    }

    private static void runEquivalentReduce () {
        Optional<String> reduce = Stream.of("apple", "banana", "pie")
                                        .reduce((s, s2) -> s.compareTo(s2) <= 0 ? s : s2);
        System.out.println(reduce.get());
    }
}

Output

apple
apple
Original Post

See Also