Java | ==, equals(), compareTo(), equalsIgnoreCase() and compare()

06 Jun, 2021
There are many ways to compare two Strings in Java:  
Using == operator
Using equals() method
Using compareTo() method
Using compareToIgnoreCase() method
Using compare() methodMethod 1: using == operatorDouble equals operator is used to compare two or more than two objects, If they are referring to the same object then return true, otherwise return false. String is immutable in java. When two or more objects are created without new keyword, then both object refer same value. Double equals operator actually compares objects references.  
Method 1: using == operatorDouble equals operator is used to compare two or more than two objects, If they are referring to the same object then return true, otherwise return false. String is immutable in java. When two or more objects are created without new keyword, then both object refer same value. Double equals operator actually compares objects references.  
Below example illustrate the use of == for string comparison in Java: 
JAVA
// Java program to demonstrate// use of == operator in Java class GFG {    public static void main(String[] args)    {         // Get some Strings to compare        String s1 = "A";        String s2 = "A";        String s3 = "A";        String s4 = new String("A");         // Compare s1 and s2        // It should return true as they both        // refer to same object in memory        System.out.println(s1 + " == " + s2                         + ": " + (s1 == s2));         // Compare s1 and s3        // It should return true as they both        // refer to same object in memory        System.out.println(s1 + " == " + s3                         + ": " + (s1 == s3));         // Compare s2 and s3        // It should return true as they both        // refer to same object in memory        System.out.println(s2 + " == " + s3                         + ": " + (s2 == s3));         // Compare s1 and s4        // It should return false as they both        // refer to different object in memory        System.out.println(s1 + " == " + s4                         + ": " + (s1 == s4));    }}
 
A == A: true
A == A: true
A == A: true
A == A: false
 
 
Method 2: Using equals() methodIn Java, string equals() method compares the two given strings based on the data / content of the string. If all the contents of both the strings are same then it returns true. If all characters are not matched then it returns false.  
Below example illustrate the use of .equals for string comparison in Java: 
JAVA
// Java program to demonstrate// use of .equals operator in Java class GFG {    public static void main(String[] args)    {         // Get some Strings to compare        String s1 = "A";        String s2 = "A";        String s3 = "a";        String s4 = new String("A");         // Compare s1 and s2        // It should return true as they both        // have the same content        System.out.println(s1 + " .equals " + s2                         + ": " + s1.equals(s2));         // Compare s1 and s3        // It should return false as they both        // have the different content        System.out.println(s1 + " .equals " + s3                         + ": " + s1.equals(s3));         // Compare s2 and s3        // It should return false as they both        // have the different content        System.out.println(s2 + " .equals " + s3                         + ": " + s2.equals(s3));         // Compare s1 and s4        // It should return true as they both        // have the same content        System.out.println(s1 + " .equals " + s4                         + ": " + s1.equals(s4));    }}
 
A .equals A: true
A .equals a: false
A .equals a: false
A .equals A: true
 
 
Method 3: Using compareTo() methodIn java Comparable interface compares values and returns an int, these int values may be less than, equal, or greater than. The java compare two string is based on the Unicode value of each character in the strings. If two strings are different, then they have different characters at some index that is a valid index for both strings, or their lengths are different, or both. Assuming index ‘i’ is where characters are different then compareTo() will return firstString.charAt(i)-secondString.charAt(i). 
Below example illustrate the use of .compareTo for string comparison in Java: 
JAVA
// Java program to demonstrate// use of .compareTo operator in Java class GFG {    public static void main(String[] args)    {         // Get some Strings to compare        String s1 = "A";        String s2 = "A";        String s3 = "a";        String s4 = new String("A");         // Compare s1 and s2        // It should return 0 as they both        // have the same ASCII value        System.out.println(s1 + " .compareTo " + s2                         + ": " + s1.compareTo(s2));         // Compare s1 and s3        // It should return -32 as they both        // have the different ASCII value        System.out.println(s1 + " .compareTo " + s3                         + ": " + s1.compareTo(s3));         // Compare s3 and s2        // It should return 32 as they both        // have the different ASCII value        System.out.println(s3 + " .compareTo " + s2                         + ": " + s3.compareTo(s2));         // Compare s1 and s4        // It should return 0 as they both        // have the same ASCII value        System.out.println(s1 + " .compareTo " + s4                         + ": " + s1.compareTo(s4));    }}
 
A .compareTo A: 0
A .compareTo a: -32
a .compareTo A: 32
A .compareTo A: 0
 
 
Method 4: Using equalsIgnoreCase() methodJava String equalsIgnoreCase() method is much similar to equals() method, except that case is ignored like in above example String object s4 compare to s3 then equals() method return false, but here in case of equalsIgnoreCase() it will return true. Hence equalsIgnoreCase() method is Case Insensitive.  
Below example illustrate the use of .equalsIgnoreCase for string comparison in Java: 
JAVA
// Java program to demonstrate// use of .equalsIgnoreCase operator in Java class GFG {    public static void main(String[] args)    {         // Get some Strings to compare        String s1 = "A";        String s2 = "A";        String s3 = "a";        String s4 = new String("A");         // Compare s1 and s2        // It should return true as they both        // have the same content        System.out.println(s1 + " .equalsIgnoreCase " + s2                         + ": " + s1.equalsIgnoreCase(s2));         // Compare s1 and s3        // It should return true as they both        // have the same content being case insensitive        System.out.println(s1 + " .equalsIgnoreCase " + s3                         + ": " + s1.equalsIgnoreCase(s3));         // Compare s2 and s3        // It should return true as they both        // have the same content being case insensitive        System.out.println(s2 + " .equalsIgnoreCase " + s3                         + ": " + s2.equalsIgnoreCase(s3));         // Compare s1 and s4        // It should return true as they both        // have the same content        System.out.println(s1 + " .equalsIgnoreCase " + s4                         + ": " + s1.equalsIgnoreCase(s4));    }}
 
A .equalsIgnoreCase A: true
A .equalsIgnoreCase a: true
A .equalsIgnoreCase a: true
A .equalsIgnoreCase A: true
 
 
Method 5: Using compare() methodIn Java for locale specific comparison, one should use Collator class which is in java.text package. The one most important feature of Collator class is the ability to define our own custom comparison rules. 
Below example illustrate the use of compare() method in Java to compare Strings: 
JAVA
// Java program to demonstrate// use of collator.compare operator in Java import java.text.Collator; class GFG {    public static void main(String[] args)    {         // Get Collator instance        Collator collator = Collator.getInstance();         // Get some Strings to compare        String s1 = "A";        String s2 = "A";        String s3 = "a";        String s4 = new String("A");         // Compare s1 and s2        // It should return 0 as they both        // have the same ASCII value        System.out.println(s1 + " collator.compare " + s2                         + ": " + collator.compare(s1, s2));         // Compare s1 and s3        // It should return 1        System.out.println(s1 + " collator.compare " + s3                         + ": " + collator.compare(s1, s3));         // Compare s3 and s2        // It should return -1        System.out.println(s3 + " collator.compare " + s2                         + ": " + collator.compare(s3, s2));         // Compare s1 and s4        // It should return 0 as they both        // have the same ASCII value        System.out.println(s1 + " collator.compare " + s4                         + ": " + collator.compare(s1, s4));    }}
 
A collator.compare A: 0
A collator.compare a: 1
a collator.compare A: -1
A collator.compare A: 0
 
 
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