diff --git a/java-merge-sort/README.md b/java-merge-sort/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..de2e36a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/java-merge-sort/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+# Java Merge Sort Implementation
+
+This is a Java conversion of the COBOL merge sort example found in `../merge_sort/merge_sort_test.cbl`.
+
+## Overview
+
+The implementation provides equivalent functionality to the original COBOL program:
+
+1. **CustomerRecord Class**: Represents customer data with fields matching the COBOL structure
+2. **MergeSortProcessor**: Handles file operations, merging, and sorting
+3. **MergeSortMain**: Main application that orchestrates the workflow
+
+## Features
+
+- Creates test data programmatically (matching COBOL test data)
+- Merges two sorted files by customer ID in ascending order
+- Sorts merged file by contract ID in descending order
+- Displays results after each operation
+- Proper file I/O with exception handling
+
+## Data Structure
+
+The `CustomerRecord` class implements `Comparable<CustomerRecord>` and contains:
+- `customerId` (int) - 5-digit customer identifier
+- `lastName` (String) - Customer last name (up to 50 characters)
+- `firstName` (String) - Customer first name (up to 50 characters)
+- `contractId` (int) - 5-digit contract identifier
+- `comment` (String) - Comment field (up to 25 characters)
+
+## Usage
+
+### Compilation
+```bash
+javac -d . src/main/java/com/example/mergesort/*.java
+```
+
+### Execution
+```bash
+java com.example.mergesort.MergeSortMain
+```
+
+## Workflow
+
+1. **Create Test Data**: Generates two test files with sample customer records
+2. **Merge Files**: Merges the two files, sorting by customer ID ascending
+3. **Sort by Contract ID**: Sorts the merged file by contract ID descending
+4. **Display Results**: Shows the contents after each operation
+
+## Files Generated
+
+- `test-file-1.txt` - First test data file
+- `test-file-2.txt` - Second test data file  
+- `merge-output.txt` - Merged and sorted output
+- `sorted-contract-id.txt` - Final sorted output by contract ID
+
+## Differences from COBOL Version
+
+- Uses in-memory collections instead of direct file processing
+- Leverages Java's built-in sorting capabilities
+- Implements proper object-oriented design patterns
+- Uses modern Java I/O APIs for file handling
+
+## Test Data
+
+The implementation creates the same test data as the COBOL version:
+
+**File 1**: Customer IDs 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 75
+**File 2**: Customer IDs 3, 24, 30, 85, 999
+
+After merging and sorting by customer ID: 1, 3, 5, 10, 24, 25, 30, 50, 75, 85, 999
+
+After sorting by contract ID (descending): Records ordered by contract ID from highest to lowest.
diff --git a/java-merge-sort/src/main/java/com/example/mergesort/CustomerRecord.java b/java-merge-sort/src/main/java/com/example/mergesort/CustomerRecord.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e72a3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/java-merge-sort/src/main/java/com/example/mergesort/CustomerRecord.java
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+package com.example.mergesort;
+
+public class CustomerRecord implements Comparable<CustomerRecord> {
+    private int customerId;
+    private String lastName;
+    private String firstName;
+    private int contractId;
+    private String comment;
+
+    public CustomerRecord() {
+    }
+
+    public CustomerRecord(int customerId, String lastName, String firstName, int contractId, String comment) {
+        this.customerId = customerId;
+        this.lastName = lastName;
+        this.firstName = firstName;
+        this.contractId = contractId;
+        this.comment = comment;
+    }
+
+    public int getCustomerId() {
+        return customerId;
+    }
+
+    public void setCustomerId(int customerId) {
+        this.customerId = customerId;
+    }
+
+    public String getLastName() {
+        return lastName;
+    }
+
+    public void setLastName(String lastName) {
+        this.lastName = lastName;
+    }
+
+    public String getFirstName() {
+        return firstName;
+    }
+
+    public void setFirstName(String firstName) {
+        this.firstName = firstName;
+    }
+
+    public int getContractId() {
+        return contractId;
+    }
+
+    public void setContractId(int contractId) {
+        this.contractId = contractId;
+    }
+
+    public String getComment() {
+        return comment;
+    }
+
+    public void setComment(String comment) {
+        this.comment = comment;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int compareTo(CustomerRecord other) {
+        return Integer.compare(this.customerId, other.customerId);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        return String.format("%05d%-50s%-50s%05d%-25s", 
+            customerId, 
+            padRight(lastName, 50), 
+            padRight(firstName, 50), 
+            contractId, 
+            padRight(comment, 25));
+    }
+
+    private String padRight(String str, int length) {
+        if (str == null) str = "";
+        if (str.length() >= length) {
+            return str.substring(0, length);
+        }
+        return str + " ".repeat(length - str.length());
+    }
+
+    public static CustomerRecord fromString(String line) {
+        if (line == null || line.length() < 135) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid record format");
+        }
+        
+        int customerId = Integer.parseInt(line.substring(0, 5));
+        String lastName = line.substring(5, 55).trim();
+        String firstName = line.substring(55, 105).trim();
+        int contractId = Integer.parseInt(line.substring(105, 110));
+        String comment = line.substring(110, 135).trim();
+        
+        return new CustomerRecord(customerId, lastName, firstName, contractId, comment);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/java-merge-sort/src/main/java/com/example/mergesort/MergeSortMain.java b/java-merge-sort/src/main/java/com/example/mergesort/MergeSortMain.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..51a2571
--- /dev/null
+++ b/java-merge-sort/src/main/java/com/example/mergesort/MergeSortMain.java
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+package com.example.mergesort;
+
+import java.io.*;
+import java.nio.file.*;
+import java.util.*;
+
+public class MergeSortMain {
+    
+    private static final String TEST_FILE_1 = "test-file-1.txt";
+    private static final String TEST_FILE_2 = "test-file-2.txt";
+    private static final String MERGED_FILE = "merge-output.txt";
+    private static final String SORTED_FILE = "sorted-contract-id.txt";
+    
+    private MergeSortProcessor processor;
+    
+    public MergeSortMain() {
+        this.processor = new MergeSortProcessor();
+    }
+    
+    public static void main(String[] args) {
+        MergeSortMain app = new MergeSortMain();
+        
+        try {
+            app.createTestData();
+            app.mergeAndDisplayFiles();
+            app.sortAndDisplayFile();
+            
+            System.out.println("Done.");
+            
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            System.err.println("Error: " + e.getMessage());
+            e.printStackTrace();
+        }
+    }
+    
+    public void createTestData() {
+        System.out.println("Creating test data files...");
+        
+        try {
+            createTestFile1();
+            createTestFile2();
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException("Failed to create test data: " + e.getMessage(), e);
+        }
+    }
+    
+    private void createTestFile1() throws IOException {
+        List<CustomerRecord> records = Arrays.asList(
+            new CustomerRecord(1, "last-1", "first-1", 5423, "comment-1"),
+            new CustomerRecord(5, "last-5", "first-5", 12323, "comment-5"),
+            new CustomerRecord(10, "last-10", "first-10", 653, "comment-10"),
+            new CustomerRecord(50, "last-50", "first-50", 5050, "comment-50"),
+            new CustomerRecord(25, "last-25", "first-25", 7725, "comment-25"),
+            new CustomerRecord(75, "last-75", "first-75", 1175, "comment-75")
+        );
+        
+        writeRecordsToFile(records, TEST_FILE_1);
+    }
+    
+    private void createTestFile2() throws IOException {
+        List<CustomerRecord> records = Arrays.asList(
+            new CustomerRecord(999, "last-999", "first-999", 1610, "comment-99"),
+            new CustomerRecord(3, "last-03", "first-03", 3331, "comment-03"),
+            new CustomerRecord(30, "last-30", "first-30", 8765, "comment-30"),
+            new CustomerRecord(85, "last-85", "first-85", 4567, "comment-85"),
+            new CustomerRecord(24, "last-24", "first-24", 247, "comment-24")
+        );
+        
+        writeRecordsToFile(records, TEST_FILE_2);
+    }
+    
+    private void writeRecordsToFile(List<CustomerRecord> records, String fileName) throws IOException {
+        try (BufferedWriter writer = Files.newBufferedWriter(Paths.get(fileName))) {
+            for (CustomerRecord record : records) {
+                writer.write(record.toString());
+                writer.newLine();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    
+    public void mergeAndDisplayFiles() {
+        System.out.println("Merging and sorting files...");
+        
+        processor.mergeFiles(TEST_FILE_1, TEST_FILE_2, MERGED_FILE);
+        processor.displayFile(MERGED_FILE, "Merged file contents:");
+    }
+    
+    public void sortAndDisplayFile() {
+        System.out.println("Sorting merged file on descending contract id....");
+        
+        processor.sortFileByContractId(MERGED_FILE, SORTED_FILE);
+        processor.displayFile(SORTED_FILE, "Sorted file contents:");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/java-merge-sort/src/main/java/com/example/mergesort/MergeSortProcessor.java b/java-merge-sort/src/main/java/com/example/mergesort/MergeSortProcessor.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a40bb68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/java-merge-sort/src/main/java/com/example/mergesort/MergeSortProcessor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+package com.example.mergesort;
+
+import java.io.*;
+import java.nio.file.*;
+import java.util.*;
+import java.util.stream.Collectors;
+
+public class MergeSortProcessor {
+
+    public void mergeFiles(String file1Path, String file2Path, String outputPath) {
+        try {
+            List<CustomerRecord> records1 = readRecordsFromFile(file1Path);
+            List<CustomerRecord> records2 = readRecordsFromFile(file2Path);
+            
+            Collections.sort(records1);
+            Collections.sort(records2);
+            
+            List<CustomerRecord> mergedRecords = mergeSortedLists(records1, records2);
+            
+            writeRecordsToFile(mergedRecords, outputPath);
+            
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException("Error merging files: " + e.getMessage(), e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public void sortFileByContractId(String inputPath, String outputPath) {
+        try {
+            List<CustomerRecord> records = readRecordsFromFile(inputPath);
+            
+            records.sort((r1, r2) -> Integer.compare(r2.getContractId(), r1.getContractId()));
+            
+            writeRecordsToFile(records, outputPath);
+            
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException("Error sorting file: " + e.getMessage(), e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private List<CustomerRecord> readRecordsFromFile(String filePath) throws IOException {
+        List<CustomerRecord> records = new ArrayList<>();
+        
+        try (BufferedReader reader = Files.newBufferedReader(Paths.get(filePath))) {
+            String line;
+            while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
+                if (!line.trim().isEmpty()) {
+                    records.add(CustomerRecord.fromString(line));
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        
+        return records;
+    }
+
+    private void writeRecordsToFile(List<CustomerRecord> records, String filePath) throws IOException {
+        try (BufferedWriter writer = Files.newBufferedWriter(Paths.get(filePath))) {
+            for (CustomerRecord record : records) {
+                writer.write(record.toString());
+                writer.newLine();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private List<CustomerRecord> mergeSortedLists(List<CustomerRecord> list1, List<CustomerRecord> list2) {
+        List<CustomerRecord> merged = new ArrayList<>();
+        int i = 0, j = 0;
+        
+        while (i < list1.size() && j < list2.size()) {
+            if (list1.get(i).compareTo(list2.get(j)) <= 0) {
+                merged.add(list1.get(i));
+                i++;
+            } else {
+                merged.add(list2.get(j));
+                j++;
+            }
+        }
+        
+        while (i < list1.size()) {
+            merged.add(list1.get(i));
+            i++;
+        }
+        
+        while (j < list2.size()) {
+            merged.add(list2.get(j));
+            j++;
+        }
+        
+        return merged;
+    }
+
+    public void displayFile(String filePath, String description) {
+        try {
+            System.out.println(description);
+            List<CustomerRecord> records = readRecordsFromFile(filePath);
+            for (CustomerRecord record : records) {
+                System.out.println(record);
+            }
+            System.out.println();
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            System.err.println("Error reading file " + filePath + ": " + e.getMessage());
+        }
+    }
+}