Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

Java Java Data Structures - Retired Organizing Data Interfaces

What does (equals(other)) do?

What exactly does (equals(other)) do? Does it compare the object to itself? What is the point of that?

1 Answer

Simon Coates
Simon Coates
28,694 Points

you can check documentation at https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/Object.html#equals(java.lang.Object). Equals tests that the objects refer to the same object (a location in memory), but a lot of classes override it to provide a more meaningful test.