Java substring.equals versus ==
awk, iteration, java, substring
Solution
You should use `equals()` instead of `==` to compare two strings.
`s1 == s2` returns true if both strings point to the same object in memory. This is a common beginners mistake and is usually not what you want.
`s1.equals(s2)` returns true if both strings are physically equal (i.e. they contain the same characters).
Problem
Using the standard loop, I compared a substring to a string value like this: ``` if (str.substring(i, i+3) == "dog" ) dogcount++; ``` and it broke the iteration. After the first increment, no further instances of "dog" would be detected. So I used substring.equals, and that worked: ``` if (str.substring(i, i+3).equals("dog")) dogcount++; ``` My question is, why? Just seeking better understand, thx.