Equals method for data class in Kotlin

In Kotlin data classes equality check, arrays, just like other classes, are compared using equals(...), which compares the arrays references, not the content. This behavior is described here:

So, whenever you say

• arr1 == arr2

• DataClass(arr1) == DataClass(arr2)

• ...

you get the arrays compared through equals(), i.e. referentially.

Given that,

val arr1 = intArrayOf(1, 2, 3)
val arr2 = intArrayOf(1, 2, 3)


println(arr1 == arr2) // false is expected here
println(PuzzleBoard(arr1) == PuzzleBoard(arr2)) // false too

override fun equals(other: Any?): Boolean{
if (this === other) return true
if (other?.javaClass != javaClass) return false


other as PuzzleBoard


if (!Arrays.equals(board, other.board)) return false


return true
}


override fun hashCode(): Int{
return Arrays.hashCode(board)
}

^{This code is what IntelliJ IDEA can automatically generate for non-data classes.}

Another solution is to use List<Int> instead of IntArray. Lists are compared structurally, so that you won't need to override anything.

For Data classes in Kotlin, hashcode() method will generate and return the same integer if parameters values are same for both objects.

val user = User("Alex", 1)
val secondUser = User("Alex", 1)
val thirdUser = User("Max", 2)


println(user.hashCode().equals(secondUser.hashCode()))
println(user.hashCode().equals(thirdUser.hashCode()))

Running this code will return True and False as when we created secondUser object we have passed same argument as object user, so hashCode() integer generated for both of them will be same.

also if you will check this:

println(user.equals(thirdUser))

It will return false.

As per hashCode() method docs

open fun hashCode(): Int (source)

Returns a hash code value for the object. The general contract of hashCode is:

Whenever it is invoked on the same object more than once, the hashCode method must consistently return the same integer, provided no information used in equals comparisons on the object is modified.

If two objects are equal according to the equals() method, then calling the hashCode method on each of the two objects must produce the same integer result.

For more details see this discussion here

In Kotlin, equals() behaves differently between List and Array, as you can see from code below:

val list1 = listOf(1, 2, 3)
val list2 = listOf(1, 2, 3)


val array1 = arrayOf(1, 2, 3)
val array2 = arrayOf(1, 2, 3)


//Side note: using a==b is the same as a.equals(b)


val areListsEqual = list1 == list2// true
val areArraysEqual = array1 == array2// false

List.equals() checks whether the two lists have the same size and contain the same elements in the same order.

Array.equals() simply does an instance reference check. Since we created two arrays, they point to different objects in memory, thus not considered equal.

Since Kotlin 1.1, to achieve the same behavior as with List, you can use Array.contentEquals().

Source: Array.contentEquals() docs ; List.equals() docs

Kotlin implementation:

override fun equals(other: Any?): Boolean {
when (other) {
is User -> {
return this.userId == other.userId &&
this.userName == other.userName
}
else -> return false
}
}

The board field in the PuzzleBoard class is an IntArray, when compiled it is turned into a primitive integer array. Individual array elements are never compared when checking the equality of primitive integer arrays. So calling equals on int array returns false as they are pointing to different objects. Eventually, this results in getting false in the equals() method, even though array elements are the same.

Byte code check

Looking at the decompiled java byte code, the Kotlin compiler generates some functions of data classes for us. This includes,

1. copy() function
2. toString() function - takes form ClassName(var1=val1, var2=val2, ...)
3. hashCode() function
4. equals() function

Hash code is generated by adding the hash code of individual variables and multiplying by 31. The reason for multiplying is that it can be replaced with the bitwise operator and according to experimental results, 31 and other numbers like 33, 37, 39, 41, etc. gave fever clashes when multiplied.

Take a look at decompiled java byte code of the Kotlin class PuzzleBoard which reveals the secrets of data classes.

@Metadata(
mv = {1, 7, 1},
k = 1,
d1 = {"\u0000(\n\u0002\u0018\u0002\n\u0002\u0010\u0000\n\u0000\n\u0002\u0010\u0015\n\u0002\b\u0004\n\u0002\u0010\b\n\u0002\b\u0007\n\u0002\u0010\u000b\n\u0002\b\u0003\n\u0002\u0010\u000e\n\u0000\b\u0086\b\u0018\u00002\u00020\u0001B\r\u0012\u0006\u0010\u0002\u001a\u00020\u0003¢\u0006\u0002\u0010\u0004J\t\u0010\r\u001a\u00020\u0003HÆ\u0003J\u0013\u0010\u000e\u001a\u00020\u00002\b\b\u0002\u0010\u0002\u001a\u00020\u0003HÆ\u0001J\u0013\u0010\u000f\u001a\u00020\u00102\b\u0010\u0011\u001a\u0004\u0018\u00010\u0001HÖ\u0003J\t\u0010\u0012\u001a\u00020\bHÖ\u0001J\t\u0010\u0013\u001a\u00020\u0014HÖ\u0001R\u0011\u0010\u0002\u001a\u00020\u0003¢\u0006\b\n\u0000\u001a\u0004\b\u0005\u0010\u0006R\u001b\u0010\u0007\u001a\u00020\b8FX\u0086\u0084\u0002¢\u0006\f\n\u0004\b\u000b\u0010\f\u001a\u0004\b\t\u0010\n¨\u0006\u0015"},
d2 = {"Lcom/aureusapps/androidpagingbasics/data/PuzzleBoard;", "", "board", "", "([I)V", "getBoard", "()[I", "dimension", "", "getDimension", "()I", "dimension$delegate", "Lkotlin/Lazy;", "component1", "copy", "equals", "", "other", "hashCode", "toString", "", "androidpagingbasics_debug"}
)
public final class PuzzleBoard {
@NotNull
private final Lazy dimension$delegate;
@NotNull
private final int[] board;


public final int getDimension() {
Lazy var1 = this.dimension$delegate;
Object var3 = null;
return ((Number)var1.getValue()).intValue();
}


@NotNull
public final int[] getBoard() {
return this.board;
}


public PuzzleBoard(@NotNull int[] board) {
Intrinsics.checkNotNullParameter(board, "board");
super();
this.board = board;
this.dimension$delegate = LazyKt.lazy((Function0)(new Function0() {
// $FF: synthetic method
// $FF: bridge method
public Object invoke() {
return this.invoke();
}


public final int invoke() {
return (int)Math.sqrt((double)PuzzleBoard.this.getBoard().length);
}
}));
}


@NotNull
public final int[] component1() {
return this.board;
}


@NotNull
public final PuzzleBoard copy(@NotNull int[] board) {
Intrinsics.checkNotNullParameter(board, "board");
return new PuzzleBoard(board);
}


// $FF: synthetic method
public static PuzzleBoard copy$default(PuzzleBoard var0, int[] var1, int var2, Object var3) {
if ((var2 & 1) != 0) {
var1 = var0.board;
}


return var0.copy(var1);
}


@NotNull
public String toString() {
return "PuzzleBoard(board=" + Arrays.toString(this.board) + ")";
}


public int hashCode() {
int[] var10000 = this.board;
return var10000 != null ? Arrays.hashCode(var10000) : 0;
}


public boolean equals(@Nullable Object var1) {
if (this != var1) {
if (var1 instanceof PuzzleBoard) {
PuzzleBoard var2 = (PuzzleBoard)var1;
if (Intrinsics.areEqual(this.board, var2.board)) {
return true;
}
}


return false;
} else {
return true;
}
}
}