Why are my variables not equal? [closed]

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Closed 8 years ago.

So I have 2 variables. One is written in javascript, the other in a scriplet in jsp. They both are strings and they both have a value of "4" when I print them. When I do .getClass() they're both of the string class but when I print out asking if they are .equals() OR even if I do (which I know is incorrect for strings) == it prints out false.

These are my variables and how they are declared.

String showingValue = "<script>document.writeln(selectedCopyValue)</script>";

String val4 = "4";

The selectedCopyValue is a varible that is written in javascript above. It is declared (for now as it is hardcoded for testing) as:

String selectedCopyValue = "4";

So why when I do something even as extensive as:

out.print(val4.trim().toString().equals(showingValue.trim().toString()));

Does it print out false?

Answer 1

When you print showingValue, the browser executes the script and displays 4. When you compare the strings, it doesn't execute the script, so it literally compares the strings:

"4" is not equal to "<script>document.writeln(selectedCopyValue)</script>"