Java implementation of Alpha-numeric comparator

[Ivan Gerasimov]

Hello everyone!

In certain situations the preferred way of sorting strings is a 
combination of char-comparing sorting with numeric sorting, where 
applicable.
List of strings sorted this way often look more natural to the human eyes:
{ "alpha",
   "java1",
   "java2",
   "java10",
   "zero" }

Here's presented a sample implementation of the comparator, which 
supports this way of sorting.
I placed it under src/sample directory.

http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~igerasim/XXXXXXX-AlphaNumeric/0/webrev/


MSDN provides the function StrCmpLogicalW(), which can be used for 
similar sort order.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/bb759947%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

The differences are:
  - case-sensitivity (StrCmpLogicalW is case-insensitive);
  - treating leading zeroes;
  - more accurate handling of strings with big numbers, which cannot be 
converted to int/long.

I guess this comparator may become particularly useful when we'll have 
'java10' and update releases/build numbers > 99 in the lists :)

I want to ask the community about how useful this comparator may be to you?

Sincerely yours,
Ivan