Compare PublicKey object in java

Question

I have two PublicKey object.I want to compare both for equality or to check which is latest object using java security API or bouncy castle API.How can i achieve this?

Answer 1

You can use equals

if (!key.equals(copyKey)){
    System.out.println("not equals!");
}

or check the hashcode of the keys

if (key.hashCode() != copyKey.hashCode())
{
    System.out.println("public key hashCode check failed");
}

or compare the hex string of the two public keys

String encodedKey1 = new String(Hex.encode(key1.getEncoded()));
String encodedKey2 = new String(Hex.encode(key2.getEncoded()));

if (!encodedKey1.equals(encodedKey2)){
    System.out.println("not equals!");
}

You have a lot of key comparision and check samples at Bouncy Castle Tests, take a look at the org.bouncycastle.jce.provider.test package for some code. BC is not strictly necesary you can do the comparision with the default java security classes.