Difference between == and .Equals method in c# (2024)

The Equality Operator ( ==) is the comparison operator and the Equals() method in C# is used to compare the content of a string.

The Equals() method compares only content.

Example

Live Demo

using System;namespace ComparisionExample { class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { string str = "hello"; string str2 = str; Console.WriteLine("Using Equality operator: {0}", str == str2); Console.WriteLine("Using equals() method: {0}", str.Equals(str2)); Console.ReadKey(); } }}

Output

Using Equality operator: TrueUsing equals() method: True

The Equality operator is used to compare the reference identity.

Let us see another example.

Example

Live Demo

using System;namespace Demo { class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { object str = "hello"; char[] values = {'h','e','l','l','o'}; object str2 = new string(values); Console.WriteLine("Using Equality operator: {0}", str == str2); Console.WriteLine("Using equals() method: {0}", str.Equals(str2)); Console.ReadKey(); } }}

Output

Using Equality operator: FalseUsing equals() method: True