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Java String comparison FAQ: Can you share some examples of how to compare Strings in Java?

If you're like me, when I first started using Java, I wanted to use the "==" operator to test whether two String instances were equal, but for better or worse, that's not the correct way to do it in Java.

Summary: A collection of Perl if, else, and else if examples.

Here's a quick demo of the Perl if/else syntax, including the "else if" syntax, which is really elsif. (I wrote this because after working with many different languages I can never remember the "else if" syntax for most languages, and elsif is pretty rare.)

The Perl if/else syntax

The Perl if/else syntax is standard, I don't have any problems here:

The == operator doesn't work when comparing two Java String objects, even if the Strings store the same content, because the == operator compares the two object references to each other. Since they aren't the same reference, they aren't equal.

In short, when comparing two Java String objects, compare them like this:

if (s1.equals(s2))
{
  // your code ...
}

and specifically do not compare two String objects like this: