Difference between == and .equals in Java.

Question

I know this has been covered but I\'ve seen inconsistent arguments here on SO.

So if I have:

String a = \"apple2e\";
String b = \"apple2e\";

System.         


        

Answer 1

a and b are two different references to the same object -- PROBABLY

"a==b? " + a

evaluates to the string "a==b? apple2e" which is definitely not the same (either == or equals) as the string "apple2e"

So your code:

System.out.println("a==b? " + a == b);

is just testing if "a==b? apple2e" is the same as "apple2e" which it is not (no matter how you define same).