Two .NET objects that are equal don't say they are

Question

I have the following code:

object val1 = 1;
object val2 = 1;

bool result1 = (val1 == val2);//Equals false
bool result2 = val1.Equals(val2); //Equals true
         


        

Answer 1

Yes. == checks for reference equality. Use Equals where you want to compare content.

You might be wondering why this is so with objects. When you set an integer (value type) to an object variable, an operation called boxing happens. This operation wraps the value type into an object and puts it on the heap and returns a reference. This happens twice and references becomes different (although the values are the same).