How to compare two String objects in java?

The below example shows how to compare two string objects in java. You can not use "==" operator to compare two strings. String provides equals() method to compare two string objects. Also you can ignore case during string compare by calling equalsIgnoreCase() method. '==' operator compares the object reference but not the string value.

package com.myjava.string;

public class MyStringEquals {
    public static void main(String a[]){
        String x = "JUNK";
        String y = "junk";
        /**
         * We cannot use '==' operator to compare two strings.
         * We have to use equals() method.
         */
        if(x.equals(y)){
            System.out.println("Both strings are equal.");
        } else {
            System.out.println("Both strings are not equal.");
        }
        /**
         * We can ignore case with equalsIgnoreCase() method
         */
        if(x.equalsIgnoreCase(y)){
            System.out.println("Both strings are equal.");
        } else {
            System.out.println("Both strings are not equal.");
        }
    }
}