(Item 7) Override equlas()

(Item 7) Override equlas()

1)    Use == to check “this”

2)    Use instanceof to check type

3)    Cast argument to correct type

4)    Check equality of each significant fields

5)      Ask yourself, Is it symmetric, transitive, consistent ?

 

Caveats:

Override hashCode() when you override equals()

Don’t be too clever

Don’t rely on unreliable resources

Don’t overload equals(), you should override it! (counter example: public Boolean equals(MyClass o) )

 

Simple Example:

public final class PhoneNumber {

        private final short areaCode;

        private final short exchange;

        private final short extension;

 

        public PhoneNumber(int areaCode, int exchange,

                int extension) {

                this.areaCode  = (short) areaCode;

                this.exchange  = (short) exchange;

                this.extension = (short) extension;

        }

 

        public boolean equals(Object o) {

                if (o == this)

                        return true;

                if (!(o instanceof PhoneNumber))

                        return false;

                PhoneNumber pn = (PhoneNumber)o;

                return pn.extension == extension &&

                        pn.exchange  == exchange  &&

                        pn.areaCode  == areaCode;

        }

        //...

}