Java equals for a Class. Is == same as .equals

Question

Can we do a == on a Class variable instead of equals and expect the same result?

For example:

Class clazz = xyz; 

Case A:

if(clazz == Date.class) { // do something } 

Case B:

if(Date.class.equals(clazz)) { // do something } 

Are Case A and Case B functionally same?

Answer 1

Class is final, so its equals() cannot be overridden. Its equals() method is inherited from Object which reads

public boolean equals(Object obj) {     return (this == obj); } 

So yes, they are the same thing for a Class, or any type which doesn't override equals(Object)

To answer your second question, each ClassLoader can only load a class once and will always give you the same Class for a given fully qualified name.