Is number comparison faster than string comparison?

Question

I heard that hashing (ie converting a string or object to a number) is used for strings and such because it is easier to compare numbers than strings. If true, what is the reaso

Answer 1

Comparing primitive numbers is definitely faster than comparing strings because it's just one computer instruction while comparing strings in Java is a method. But hashing in Java is used for a different reason, Object.hashCode() is used in hash tables for quick search in collections.