---- Version History: 1.0 1998-01-01 initial release. 1.1 1998-12-28 JDK1.2 style Comparator interface 1.2 2002-02-19 use java.util.Comparator by default. 1.3 2002-03-30 tidy code a bit. 1.4 2008-01-01 add generics -30-