How does a scanner work with string comparison?

Question

import java.util.Scanner;

public class teststuff {
    public static void main(String[] args){
        Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);      
        String test;
        test = scan.next();

        if(test == "example"){
            System.out.println("it worked");
        }
    }
}

Here's the code, and my input is "example" even though it's exactly the same it still doesn't give me a boolean true for my if statement. Is there something I'm doing wrong?

I think it's more of an issue with the Scanner. Not the comparison operators. — ajkey94, Apr 04 '14 at 00:12
I'm sure the issue is incorrectly using `==` to compare `String` contents instead of the `equals` method. — rgettman, Apr 04 '14 at 00:14

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 04 '14 at 00:14

2

You need to use:

test.equals("example")

Because you are checking if the objects are equal, not if the object values are equal.

This is a pretty common mistake, but thankfully it has a very simple fix. :)

answered Apr 04 '14 at 00:14

Stephen Buttolph

643
8
16

Haha, thank you so much. I don't know why this skipped my mind. – ajkey94 Apr 04 '14 at 00:18

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 04 '14 at 00:18

0

mainly in java we don't compare String with == operator since String is class we use equals method:

test.equals("");

it returns true if the two strings are equal and false if not

answered Apr 04 '14 at 00:18

abdo0026

1

How does a scanner work with string comparison?

2 Answers2