If statement with String comparison fails [duplicate]

Question

This question already has an answer here:

• How do I compare strings in Java? 23 answers

I really don't know why the if statement below is not executing:

if (s == "/quit")
{
    System.out.println("quitted");
}

Below is the whole class.

It is probably a really stupid logic problem but I have been pulling my hair out over here not being able to figure this out.

Thanks for looking :)

class TextParser extends Thread {
    public void run() {
        while (true) {
            for(int i = 0; i < connectionList.size(); i++) {
                try {               
                    System.out.println("reading " + i);
                    Connection c = connectionList.elementAt(i); 
                    Thread.sleep(200);

                    System.out.println("reading " + i);

                    String s = "";

                    if (c.in.ready() == true) {
                        s = c.in.readLine();
                        //System.out.println(i + "> "+ s);

                        if (s == "/quit") {
                            System.out.println("quitted");
                        }

                        if(! s.equals("")) {
                            for(int j = 0; j < connectionList.size(); j++) {
                                Connection c2 = connectionList.elementAt(j);
                                c2.out.println(s);
                            }
                        }
                    }
                } catch(Exception e){
                    System.out.println("reading error");
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

In your example you are comparing the string objects, not their content.

Your comparison should be :

if (s.equals("/quit"))

Or if s string nullity doesn't mind / or you really don't like NPEs:

if ("/quit".equals(s))

Answer 2

To compare Strings for equality, don't use ==. The == operator checks to see if two objects are exactly the same object:

In Java there are many string comparisons.

String s = "something", t = "maybe something else";
if (s == t)      // Legal, but usually WRONG.
if (s.equals(t)) // RIGHT
if (s > t)    // ILLEGAL
if (s.compareTo(t) > 0) // also CORRECT>

Answer 3

Strings in java are objects, so when comparing with ==, you are comparing references, rather than values. The correct way is to use equals().

However, there is a way. If you want to compare String objects using the == operator, you can make use of the way the JVM copes with strings. For example:

String a = "aaa";
String b = "aaa";
boolean b = a == b;

b would be true. Why?

Because the JVM has a table of String constants. So whenever you use string literals (quotes "), the virtual machine returns the same objects, and therefore == returns true.

You can use the same "table" even with non-literal strings by using the intern() method. It returns the object that corresponds to the current string value from that table (or puts it there, if it is not). So:

String a = new String("aa");
String b = new String("aa");
boolean check1 = a == b; // false
boolean check1 = a.intern() == b.intern(); // true

It follows that for any two strings s and t, s.intern() == t.intern() is true if and only if s.equals(t) is true.

Answer 4

You shouldn't do string comparisons with ==. That operator will only check to see if it is the same instance, not the same value. Use the .equals method to check for the same value.

Answer 5

You can use

if("/quit".equals(s))
   ...

or

if("/quit".compareTo(s) == 0) 
    ...

The latter makes a lexicographic comparison, and will return 0 if the two strings are the same.

Answer 6

If you code in C++ as well as Java, it is better to remember that in C++, the string class has the == operator overloaded. But not so in Java. you need to use equals() or equalsIgnoreCase() for that.