Equals on array

Question

Hi, guys, recently, i wondered about something : how come "equals" on an array will return true if and only if the reference is the same?
what i mean is illustrated by the following code:
     public static void main (String[] args) {
          int[] i1 = {1, 2, 3};
          int[] i2 = {1, 2, 3};
          int[] i3 = i1.clone();
          int[] i4 = i1;
          System.out.println(i1.equals(i2));
          System.out.println(i1.equals(i3));
          System.out.println(i1.equals(i4));
          String[] s1 = {"a", "b", "c"};
          String[] s2 = {"a", "b", "c"};
          String[] s3 = s1.clone();
          System.out.println(s1.equals(s2));
          System.out.println(s1.equals(s3));
          System.out.println(s2.equals(s3));
     }which gives the following output:
false
false
true
false
false
falsewouldn't it be useful to have "==" as a physical operator, and ".equals" as a logical operator like for any object class, but for arrays?
the equals on 'this' array could call equals on each index of the array (meaning, each object contained in the array) and compare it to the matching index of the other array, and return true if the object's equals returns true for every index

Answer 1

jwenting wrote:
calvino_ind wrote:
Hi, guys, recently, i wondered about something : how come "equals" on an array will return true if and only if the reference is the same?
because that's how it's defined, obviously.
wouldn't it be useful to have "==" as a physical operator, and ".equals" as a logical operator like for any object class, but for arrays?
no.
The array is the same if the array is the same. Containing references to different objects containing themselves the same data does not make it the same.
It doesn't even make the content of the array the same.what about two arrays that have a different reference, but which hold references to the same objects, in the same order? like:
String s1 = new String("Hello");
String s2 = new String("World");
String[] ss1 = {s1, s2};
String[] ss2 = {s1, s2};