In actual work or interview, you will always encounter the following Java Fundamentals:

• [x] equals method
• [x] hashCode method
• [] interfaces and abstract classes

equals method

Agreements or guidelines used by equals:

1. Reflexivity x.equals(x) = true
2. Symmetry x.eqlas(y) = y.equals(x)
3. Transitivity x.eqlas (y): true & & y.equals (z): true x.equals (z): true
4. Consistency the results returned by each call should be consistent (if the fields involved in the equals judgment have not changed)
5. x.equals(null) = false
6. X = y, x.equals(y)=true
7. equal objects must have equal hash codes
8. If x.equals(y), if x and y are of different types, false should be returned

    /**
     * Indicates whether some other object is "equal to" this one.
     * <p>
     * The {@code equals} method implements an equivalence relation
     * on non-null object references:
     * <ul>
     * <li>It is <i>reflexive</i>: for any non-null reference value
     *     {@code x}, {@code x.equals(x)} should return
     *     {@code true}.
     * <li>It is <i>symmetric</i>: for any non-null reference values
     *     {@code x} and {@code y}, {@code x.equals(y)}
     *     should return {@code true} if and only if
     *     {@code y.equals(x)} returns {@code true}.
     * <li>It is <i>transitive</i>: for any non-null reference values
     *     {@code x}, {@code y}, and {@code z}, if
     *     {@code x.equals(y)} returns {@code true} and
     *     {@code y.equals(z)} returns {@code true}, then
     *     {@code x.equals(z)} should return {@code true}.
     * <li>It is <i>consistent</i>: for any non-null reference values
     *     {@code x} and {@code y}, multiple invocations of
     *     {@code x.equals(y)} consistently return {@code true}
     *     or consistently return {@code false}, provided no
     *     information used in {@code equals} comparisons on the
     *     objects is modified.
     * <li>For any non-null reference value {@code x},
     *     {@code x.equals(null)} should return {@code false}.
     * </ul>
     * <p>
     * The {@code equals} method for class {@code Object} implements
     * the most discriminating possible equivalence relation on objects;
     * that is, for any non-null reference values {@code x} and
     * {@code y}, this method returns {@code true} if and only
     * if {@code x} and {@code y} refer to the same object
     * ({@code x == y} has the value {@code true}).
     * <p>
     * Note that it is generally necessary to override the {@code hashCode}
     * method whenever this method is overridden, so as to maintain the
     * general contract for the {@code hashCode} method, which states
     * that equal objects must have equal hash codes.
     *
     * @param   obj   the reference object with which to compare.
     * @return  {@code true} if this object is the same as the obj
     *          argument; {@code false} otherwise.
     * @see     #hashCode()
     * @see     java.util.HashMap
     */
    public boolean equals(Object obj) {
        return (this == obj);
    }

hashCode method

Provide an indicator value for an object, which is often used in a HashMap or a HashTable. The rules of the hashCode method are as follows:

1. The value of HashCode in an execution fragment (thread) of an application should not be changed, but there is no need to ensure that the value of HashCode in two different execution fragments is equal
2. The HashCode value of two objects of equal needs to be guaranteed to be equal
3. The HashCode values of two objects of not equal need not be guaranteed to be unequal, but if they can be inconsistent, the efficiency of HashMap can be improved
4. The hashCode method of the Object class is translated according to the address of the Object in memory

    /**
     * Returns a hash code value for the object. This method is
     * supported for the benefit of hash tables such as those provided by
     * {@link java.util.HashMap}.
     * <p>
     * The general contract of {@code hashCode} is:
     * <ul>
     * <li>Whenever it is invoked on the same object more than once during
     *     an execution of a Java application, the {@code hashCode} method
     *     must consistently return the same integer, provided no information
     *     used in {@code equals} comparisons on the object is modified.
     *     This integer need not remain consistent from one execution of an
     *     application to another execution of the same application.
     * <li>If two objects are equal according to the {@code equals(Object)}
     *     method, then calling the {@code hashCode} method on each of
     *     the two objects must produce the same integer result.
     * <li>It is <em>not</em> required that if two objects are unequal
     *     according to the {@link java.lang.Object#equals(java.lang.Object)}
     *     method, then calling the {@code hashCode} method on each of the
     *     two objects must produce distinct integer results.  However, the
     *     programmer should be aware that producing distinct integer results
     *     for unequal objects may improve the performance of hash tables.
     * </ul>
     * <p>
     * As much as is reasonably practical, the hashCode method defined by
     * class {@code Object} does return distinct integers for distinct
     * objects. (This is typically implemented by converting the internal
     * address of the object into an integer, but this implementation
     * technique is not required by the
     * Java&trade; programming language.)
     *
     * @return  a hash code value for this object.
     * @see     java.lang.Object#equals(java.lang.Object)
     * @see     java.lang.System#identityHashCode
     */
    public int hashCode() {
        return identityHashCode(this);
    }