What is the purpose of the equality operator '==' in programming?

The equality operator == is used to compare two values for equality. In different programming languages, it may compare:

• Values by content (e.g., numbers, strings).
• References to objects (in some languages).

In JavaScript, for example, == performs a loose comparison with type coercion, while === performs a strict comparison without type coercion:

console.log(5 == '5');  // true
console.log(5 === '5'); // false

In Node.js (JavaScript), it is recommended to use === for precise comparison.