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Millistel juhtudel on soovitatav kasutada meetodit equals objektide võrdlemiseks?

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Vastus AI-lt

It is recommended to use the equals method for comparing objects when you need to check their logical equality, not just compare references (memory addresses).

In Java, for example, the == operator checks if two variables point to the same object, while equals compares the contents of the objects according to certain rules.

Use equals when:

  • You want to compare objects by value (e.g., strings, custom classes with overridden equals).
  • Objects may have the same data but different references.

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 the class does not override equals, it inherits the behavior from Object, where references are compared.