How is the object comparison method implemented in Java and how does it differ from the '==' operator?

In Java, the '==' operator compares object references, meaning it checks whether two variables point to the same object in memory.

To compare the contents of objects, the equals() method is used, which can be overridden in a class to define the comparison logic.

For 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

Thus, '==' checks for object identity, while equals() checks for logical equality based on content.