How == works in java?

Question

When I am creating String s="hello"; and String s1=new String("hello"); hashcode for s and s1 are same but when == than value become false. Please explain?

Answer 1

In this code segment whenever

String s1= new String("Hello");

This statement creates a String object in the Heap Memory.

String s= "Hello";

This statement creates a String literal with value "Hello" in the String Pool. when

String s1 = "Hello";
String s= new String("Hello");

Since s1 and s are reference variables, they would be pointing at their respective memory locations so s1 points to String Pool's location and s points to Heap Memory location. Now testing if they're equal:

if(s == s1) 

would return false, as the reference variables are checked. Where as

s.equals(s1) 

will return true as equals function checks the individual characters in both the reference variables.