Effective Java 08 Obey the general contract when overriding equals

When it's the case that each instance of the class is equal to only itself.

1. Each instance of the class is inherently unique.

2. You don't care whether the class provides a "logical equality" test.

3. If a superclass has already overridden equals, and the superclass behavior is appropriate for this class.

4. The class is private or package-private, and you are certain that its equals method will never be invoked.

Arguably, the equals method should be overridden under these circumstances, in case it is accidentally invoked:

@Override public boolean equals(Object o) {

throw new AssertionError();

// Method is never called

}

When a class has a notion of logical equality that differs from mere object identity, and a superclass has not already overridden equals to implement the desired behavior.

The equals method implements an equivalence relation. It is:

• Reflexive: For any non-null reference value x, x.equals(x)must return true.

• Symmetric: For any non-null reference values x and y, x.equals(y)must return true if and only if y.equals(x) returns true.

@Override public boolean equals(Object o) {

return o instanceof CaseInsensitiveString &&

((CaseInsensitiveString) o).s.equalsIgnoreCase(s);

}

• Transitive: For any non-null reference values x, y, z, if x.equals(y)returns

True and y.equals(z)returns true, then x.equals(z)must return true.

// Adds a value component without violating the equals contract

public class ColorPoint {

private final Point point;

private final Color color;

public ColorPoint(int x, int y, Color color) {

if (color == null)

throw new NullPointerException();

point = new Point(x, y);

this.color = color;

}

/**

* Returns the point-view of this color point.

*/

public Point asPoint(){

return point;

}

@Override public boolean equals(Object o) {

if (!(o instanceof ColorPoint))

return false;

ColorPoint cp = (ColorPoint) o;

return cp.point.equals(point) && cp.color.equals(color);

}

... // Remainder omitted

}

NOTE

Never use Timpstamp and java.util.Date class together in same collection since the Timpstamp does violate symmetry and can cause erratic behavior.

• Consistent: For any non-null reference values x and y, multiple invocations Of x.equals(y)consistently return true or consistently return false, provided no information used in equals comparisons on the objects is modified.

mutable objects can be equal to different objects at different times while immutable objects can't.

Java.net.URL's equals method relies on comparison of the IP addresses of the hosts associated with the URLs. Translating a host name to an IP address can require network access, and it isn't guaranteed to yield the same results over time.

• For any non-null reference value x, x.equals(null)must return false.

Recipe for a high-quality equals method

1. Use the ==operator to check if the argument is a reference to this object

2. Use the instanceof operator to check if the argument has the correct type

3. Cast the argument to the correct type

4. For each "significant" field in the class, check if that field of the argument

matches the corresponding field of this object

NOTE

If the type in step 2 is an interface, you must access the argument's fields via interface methods; if the type is a class, you may be able to access the fields directly, depending on their accessibility.

(field == null ? o.field == null : field.equals(o.field))

Primitive type: use == operator (float & double use Float.compare & Double.compare respectively to prevent -0.0).

Array fields: apply above guideline to each element ( If every element in an array field is significant, you can use one of the Arrays.equals)

5. When you are finished writing your equals method, ask yourself three

questions: Is it symmetric? Is it transitive? Is it consistent?

NOTE:

1. Always override hashCode when you override equals

2. Consistent use of the @Override annotation, as illustrated throughout this item, will prevent you from making this mistake (Item 36). This equals method won't compile and the error message will tell you exactly what is wrong:

@Override

public boolean equals(MyClass o) {

...

}