Comparing integer Arrays in Java. Why does not == work?

Question

I\'m learning Java and just came up with this subtle fact about the language: if I declare two integer Arrays with the same elements and compare them using == t

Answer 1

Use Arrays.equals(arr1, arr2) method.

The == operator just checks if two references point to the same object.

Test:

int[] a = {1, 2, 3};
int[] b = a;    
System.out.println(a == b);   // returns true as b and a refer to the same array  

int[] a = {1, 2, 3};
int[] b = {1, 2, 3};
System.out.println(Arrays.equals(a, b));   //returns true as a and b are meaningfully equal