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The equals() method in String class performs an equality check between the values present in two String objects.

Signature of equals()

public boolean equals(String st)

• Access modifier - equals() method is a public method,
• Parameter passed - A String value is passed to this method for its equality check against the value in the invoked String object.
• Value returned - It returns a Boolean value, which tells us whether the invoked String object has the same value as the String value passed to this method.

Note :

This method performs case-sensitive equality check.

Let's understand equals() method by an example -:

Here in the next example, we have initialized two String objects and we are checking for the equality in their values by calling equals() method on one of them.

// Program to find whether value of String is equal as value of another String.


class StringEquals
{
public static void main(String[] ar)
{
String str1= new String("A sunny day");
String str2= new String("A sunny day");

System.out.println("First  String is : " + str1);
System.out.println("Second String is : " + str2);

System.out.println("Are values in first and second String object similar?  " + str1.equals(str2));

String str3= new String("Hello321");
String str4= new String("Hello32");

System.out.println("Third  String is : " + str3);
System.out.println("Fourth String is : " + str4);

System.out.println("Are values in third and fourth String object similar?  " + str3.equals(str4));
}
}

Output is :

First  String is : A sunny day
Second String is : A sunny day
Are values in first and second String object similar?  true
Third  String is : Hello321
Fourth String is : Hello32
Are values in third and fourth String object similar?  false

Program Analysis

• The first and second String objects are initialized with the same value - A sunny day. Hence, equals method returns true on their equality check.
• The third and fourth String objects are initialized with a slightly different value, hence equals method returns false on their comparison.

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Method equals() performs case-sensitive equality check

// Program performing a case-sensitive equality check between two String values.


class StringEquals
{
public static void main(String[] ar)
{
String str1= new String("United States");
String str2= new String("United states");

System.out.println("First String is "  + str1);
System.out.println("Second String is " + str2);

System.out.println("Are values in first and second String object similar?  " + str1.equals(str2));


String str3= new String("India");
String str4= new String("india");

System.out.println("Third String is :"  + str3);
System.out.println("Fourth String is :" + str4);

System.out.println("Are values in third and fourth String object similar?  " + str3.equals(str4));


}
}

Output is :

First  String is United States
Second String is United states
Are values in first and second String object similar?  false
Third  String is :India
Fourth String is :india
Are values in third and fourth String object similar?  false

Program Analysis

• The first String object is initialized with United States while the second String objects is initialized with United states( with a lower case s), hence, equals method returns false on their case-sensitive equality check.
• The third String object is initialized with India while the second String objects is initialized with india( with a lower case i), hence, equals method returns false on their case-sensitive equality check.

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