' This class provides a custom implementation of the Compare() method.
Class CaseInsensitiveComparer
    Implements IComparer(Of String)

    Function Compare(ByVal x As String, ByVal y As String) As Integer _
    Implements IComparer(Of String).Compare

        ' Compare values and ignore case.
        Return String.Compare(x, y, True)
    End Function
End Class

Sub ThenByDescendingEx1()
    Dim fruits() As String =
    {"apPLe", "baNanA", "apple", "APple", "orange", "BAnana", "ORANGE", "apPLE"}

    ' Sort the strings first by their length and then 
    ' by using a custom "case insensitive" comparer.
    Dim query As IEnumerable(Of String) =
    fruits _
    .OrderBy(Function(fruit) fruit.Length) _
    .ThenByDescending(Function(fruit) fruit, New CaseInsensitiveComparer())

    ' Display the results.
    Dim output As New System.Text.StringBuilder
    For Each fruit As String In query
        output.AppendLine(fruit)
    Next
    Console.WriteLine(output.ToString())
End Sub