Could the == operator be used in this program instead of the equals() method?

Answer:

No. The == operator tests if two reference variables refer to the same object.

Testing Two Reference Variables

Here is the program, with changes:

import java.awt.*;
class EqualsDemo2
{
  public static void main ( String arg[] )
  {
    Point pointA = new Point( 7, 99 );   // first Point
    Point pointB = new Point( 7, 99 );   // second Point with equivalent data

    if ( pointA == pointB  )
      System.out.println( "The two variables refer to the same object" );   
    else
      System.out.println( "The two variables refer to different objects" );  

  }
}

The picture of the situation (after the two new operators have executed) is the same as on the previous page.

QUESTION 18:

What is the output of this program?