Stream min() method in Java with Examples

Namachila November 2, 2025

0 4 2 minutes read

Stream.min() returns the minimum element of the stream based on the provided Comparator. A Comparator is a comparison function, which imposes a total ordering on some collection of objects. min() is a terminal operation which combines stream elements and returns a summary result. So, min() is a special case of reduction. The method returns Optional instance.

Syntax :

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

Where, Optional is a container object which
may or may not contain a non-null value 
and T is the type of objects
that may be compared by this comparator

Exception : This method throws NullPointerException if the minimum element is null.

Example 1 : Minimum from list of Integers.

// Java code for Stream.min() method to get
// the minimum element of the Stream
// according to the provided Comparator.
import java.util.*;
  
class GFG {
  
    // Driver code
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
  
        // Creating a list of integers
        List<Integer> list = Arrays.asList(-9, -18, 0, 25, 4);
  
        // Using stream.min() to get minimum
        // element according to provided Integer Comparator
        Integer var = list.stream().min(Integer::compare).get();
  
        System.out.print(var);
    }
}

Output :

-18

Example 2 : Reverse comparator to get maximum value using min() function.

// Java code for Stream.min() method
// to get the minimum element of the 
// Stream according to provided comparator.
import java.util.*;
  
class GFG {
  
    // Driver code
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
  
        // Creating a list of integers
        List<Integer> list = Arrays.asList(-9, -18, 0, 25, 4);
  
        // Using Stream.min() with reverse
        // comparator to get maximum element.
        Optional<Integer> var = list.stream()
                    .min(Comparator.reverseOrder());
  
        // IF var is empty, then output will be Optional.empty
        // else value in var is printed.
        if(var.isPresent()){
        System.out.println(var.get());
        }
        else{
            System.out.println("NULL");
        }
          
    }
}

Output :

Example 3 : Comparing strings based on last characters.

// Java code for Stream.min() method
// to get the minimum element of the 
// Stream according to provided comparator.
import java.util.*;
  
class GFG {
  
    // Driver code
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
  
        // creating an array of strings
        String[] array = { "Geeks", "for", "Lazyroar",
                           "GeeksQuiz" };
  
        // The Comparator compares the strings
        // based on their last characters and returns
        // the minimum value accordingly.
        Optional<String> MIN = Arrays.stream(array).min((str1, str2) -> 
                    Character.compare(str1.charAt(str1.length() - 1), 
                                      str2.charAt(str2.length() - 1)));
  
        // If a value is present,
        // isPresent() will return true
        if (MIN.isPresent()) 
            System.out.println(MIN.get()); 
        else
            System.out.println("-1"); 
    }
}