How to distinguish between object comparison using the equals method and using the == operator in Java?

In Java, the == operator and the equals() method serve different purposes when comparing objects:

• == compares references to objects, i.e., checks whether two variables point to the same object in memory.

• equals() compares the content of objects according to the logic defined in the overridden method.

Example:

String a = new String("test");
String b = new String("test");

System.out.println(a == b);       // false, different objects
System.out.println(a.equals(b));  // true, same content

If a class does not override equals(), its default implementation from Object behaves like ==.

Therefore, for comparing values of objects (e.g., strings, collections), equals() should always be used, while == checks object identity.