Need Help - Using mergeSort to sort ArrayList

I need to write a class that sort the student list by last name using mergeSort(if same last name, then by first name).
The requirements are:
mergeSort(ArrayList, int, int):void
merge(ArrayList, int, int, int):void
Can anyone help me out?
Thanks.

Hello, welcome to JavaRanch. Can I get you to take a look at our display name policy and edit your profile to give us a display name that looks a little more like a real name, rather than an abbreviation or random line noise?

Thanks.
If your objective is just to get the list sorted, using Collections.sort() is probably best. This already uses a mergesort with slight modifications. You can use Collections.sort(List,Comparator) to specify a Comparator object which implements a particular sorting criterion. (Like sorting by last name then first name.)
If this is an assignment where the instructor wants to see you write a mergesort yourself, then, well, you really should do most of it yourself. Do you have a text or something describing how a mergesort works? Have you tried writing any code yet? What specific issues or questions do you have?
In either case, you also need to know what exactly is in the ArrayList. Are the objects Strings? Or some other class? If they're Strings, are they stored like "Jim Yingst" or "Yingst, Jim"? This will make a difference in terms of how you implement the sorting criterion. The latter format is really simple to deal with - you can just sort using the natural order of the Strings, since this will sort by last name, then first name.

OK, my display name is changed now and I'd like to continue the discussion of my question.
Yes, this is an assignment which requires us to write a MergeSort method and it must use compareTo() method. The student names are stored like "Yingst,Jim". Below is my code, it can pass compile but give me the wrong results.

import java.text.*;
public class Student implements Comparable
{
        private String lastName;
  private String firstName; 
}
public String getFirstName()
{
return firstName;
}
public String getLastName()
{
return lastName;
}
public void setFirstName(String fName)
{
firstName = fName;
}
public void setLastName(String lName)
{
lastName = lName;
}
public String toString ()
{
        return ("First name:" + firstName + "\n" +
        "Last name:" + lastName + "\n");
}
public int compareTo(Object other)
{
        Student otherStudent = (Student) other;
        if(lastName.equals(otherStudent.lastName))
                return lastName.compareTo(otherStudent.firstName);
else
return lastName.compareTo(otherStudent.lastName);
}
}
 
import java.util.*;
import java.lang.*;
 
public class Sorts
{
public static void merge(ArrayList studentList, int first, int last, int mid)
{
ArrayList tempList = new ArrayList();
 
int i = 0;
 
while (first <= mid && (mid+1) <= last)
{
Comparable list1 = (Comparable) studentList.get(first);
Comparable list2 = (Comparable) studentList.get(mid+1);
 
if ( list1.compareTo( list2 ) < 0)
tempList.add(studentList.get(first++));
else
tempList.add( studentList.get(mid++) );
}
 
while (first <= mid)
tempList.add(studentList.get(first++));
while ( (mid+1) <= last)
tempList.add(studentList.get(mid++));
 
for (i=0; i<last; i++ )
studentList.add(tempList.get(i++));
}
 
public static void mergeSort(ArrayList dataList, int first, int last)
{
if (first < last)
{
int mid = (first + last) / 2;
 
mergeSort(dataList, first, mid);
mergeSort(dataList, mid+1, last);
merge(dataList, first, last, mid);
}
}
}

[ March 12, 2003: Message edited by: Jim Yingst ]

I just scanned your code by eye and saw this:
You have i++ twice, do you need that?
Also the very first "}" needs to be removed to get the listed code to compile. I guess that got in by accident somehow.

The code(whole assignment) has been modified as following:

import java.util.*;
import java.io.*;
public class Assignment
{
public static void main (String[] args) throws IOException
  {
ArrayList studentList = new ArrayList();
studentList.add(StudentParser.studentParser("Bush,Lauren"));
studentList.add(StudentParser.studentParser("Brown,Charlie"));
studentList.add(StudentParser.studentParser("Bush,George"));
studentList.add(StudentParser.studentParser("Clinton,Bill"));
int low = 0;
int high = 0;
for (int i=0; i<studentList.size(); i++)
{
low = studentList.indexOf(studentList.get(0));
high = studentList.indexOf(studentList.get(studentList.size()-1));
}
Sorts.mergeSort(studentList, low, high);
System.out.println(studentList + "\n");
}
}
import java.util.*;
public class Sorts
{
public static void merge(ArrayList studentList, int first, int last, int mid)
{
ArrayList tempList = new ArrayList();
int i = 0;
while (first <= mid && mid <= last)
{
Comparable list1 = (Comparable) studentList.get(first);
Comparable list2 = (Comparable) studentList.get(mid);
if ( list1.compareTo( list2 ) < 0)
tempList.add(studentList.get(first++));
else
tempList.add( studentList.get(mid++) );
}
// possibly some values left in the first list
while (first < mid)
tempList.add(studentList.get(first++));
// or possibly some values left in the second list
while ( mid <= last)
tempList.add(studentList.get(mid++));
// Copy the data over from tempList to studentList ArrayList
for (i=0; i<= last; i++ )
studentList.add(tempList.get(i++));
}
public static void mergeSort(ArrayList dataList, int first, int last)
{
if (first < last)
{
int mid = (first + last) / 2;
// Resursion - sort 2 halves
mergeSort(dataList, first, mid);
mergeSort(dataList, mid+1, last);
merge(dataList, first, last, mid);
}
}
}
import java.text.*;
public class Student implements Comparable
{
private String lastName;
  private String firstName;
public String getFirstName()
{
return firstName;
}
public String getLastName()
{
return lastName;
}
public void setFirstName(String fName)
{
firstName = fName;
}
public void setLastName(String lName)
{
lastName = lName;
}
public String toString ()
{
return ("\nFirst name:\t\t" + firstName + "\n" +
"Last name:\t\t" + lastName + "\n");
}
public int compareTo(Object other)
{
Student otherStudent = (Student) other;
if ( lastName.equals(otherStudent.lastName) )
return lastName.compareTo(otherStudent.firstName);
else
return lastName.compareTo(otherStudent.lastName);
}
}
import java.util.*;
public class StudentParser
{
public static String lastName;
public static String firstName;
public static Student studentParser(String lineToParse)
{
Student students = new Student();
StringTokenizer tokenizer = new StringTokenizer( lineToParse, ",:");
while (tokenizer.hasMoreTokens())
{
lastName = tokenizer.nextToken().trim();
students.setLastName(lastName);
firstName = tokenizer.nextToken().trim();
students.setFirstName(firstName);
}
return students;
}
}

Here is the result I got:
[
First name: Lauren
Last name: Bush
,
First name: Charlie
Last name: Brown
,
First name: George
Last name: Bush
,
First name: Bill
Last name: Clinton
,
First name: Lauren
Last name: Bush
,
First name: George
Last name: Bush
,
First name: Bill
Last name: Clinton
,
First name: Charlie
Last name: Brown
,
First name: Charlie
Last name: Brown
]
Please Help!!!