one more with Strings ( == and equals)

[manasa teja]

Please observe the following code:
String a = new String("java");
String b = new String("java");
System.out.println(a == b) // this prints false
System.out.println(a.equals(b)); // prints true
String c = "java";
String d = "java";
System.out.println(c == d) // this prints true
System.out.println(c.equals(d)); // prints true
Can you please explain me the reason for this?
thanks!
Murthy

[Karen Leoh]

Hi Murthy
String a = new String("java") creates a String object. System.out.println(a == b) is false as it does shallow comparison. It compares Objects instead of the content of the object.
The method equals() does deep comparison. It compares the content of the String. Thus,
System.out.println(a.equals(b)) prints true.
As for
String c = "java";
String d = "java";
since there's no "new" used, it does not create a new object instead is pointing to the same string in the string pool. Since it's the same string, == will return true.
I hope this brief explanation helps a bit. You should do a search here. This topic has been discussed a lot here. I'm sure the explanations provided by the other ranchers are much better.

[manasa teja]

Karen, thanks for your nice explanation.
Hence, Can I say that, whenever we use "new" to create the same string ( like "java" in this example), == always returns FALSE as it compares the objects.
please correct me , if I am wrong and give some example.
[ June 04, 2002: Message edited by: Murthy Kompella ]

[Corey McGlone]

Originally posted by Murthy Kompella:
Hence, Can I say that, whenever we use "new" to create the same string ( like "java" in this example), == always returns FALSE as it compares the objects.

That is correct...initially. The String class has a method called "intern" which allows you to reuse Strings from the pool. Take a look at this example:

public static void main(String[] args)
{
   String s1 = new String("Test");
   String s2 = new String("Test");
   System.out.println(s1 == s2);
   System.out.println(s1.equals(s2));
 
   s1 = s1.intern();
   s2 = s2.intern();
 
   System.out.println(s1 == s2);
   System.out.println(s1.equals(s2));
}
 
// Output
false
true
true
true

In short, however, whenever you use the keyword "new," a new object is created which, therefore, has a unique reference. As such, using "==" on it with any other reference will return false.
Corey

[manasa teja]

that's a nice explanation.
In addition to that, just to share with everybody,
I just referred java Api for Intern , which says

It follows that for any two strings s and t, s.intern() == t.intern() is true if and only if s.equals(t) is true.