Java equals for a Class. Is == same as .equals

Question

Can we do a == on a Class variable instead of equals and expect the same result?

For example:

Class clazz = xyz;
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Answer 1

Class is final, so its equals() cannot be overridden. Its equals() method is inherited from Object which reads

public boolean equals(Object obj) {
    return (this == obj);
}

So yes, they are the same thing for a Class, or any type which doesn't override equals(Object)

To answer your second question, each ClassLoader can only load a class once and will always give you the same Class for a given fully qualified name.