Why does "==" work differently when using "new String(..)"?

Question

Can someone explain me on how String class behaves in memory management in java. I have lately heard about string comparison. how does two string with == operator and equals method differ.

example: String str1 = "Hello"; String str2 = "Hello"; String str3 = new String("Hello");

any suggestions on case 1 AND case3?

**any suggestions** ? . Yes, use `.equals()` always. – TheLostMind Sep 19 '14 at 05:57 — TheLostMind, Sep 19 '14 at 05:57
(But do keep up with the relevant close-votes!) – user2864740 Sep 19 '14 at 05:58 — user2864740, Sep 19 '14 at 05:58
@user2864740 yes, it is – Ruchira Gayan Ranaweera Sep 19 '14 at 05:59 — Ruchira Gayan Ranaweera, Sep 19 '14 at 05:59
thanks for relevant replies. – Kumar Kailash Sep 19 '14 at 06:30 — Kumar Kailash, Sep 19 '14 at 06:30

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 19 '14 at 05:57

== in Java compares the references of the 2 string objects, and not the contents. The equals methods does is the one that checks the content.

However, due due string interning, I believe that in the case that you listed, str1 == str2 withh be true because there is a single instance of that string literal stored in memory.

Why does "==" work differently when using "new String(..)"?

1 Answers1