[Cero.Uno]

I'm making a java console program, I'm taking input from the user however I want the program to only succeed if the selection given (string) is valid to the choices purposed from the console.

Code:

                printGameMenu();
		do
		{
			userChoice = getInput("Please make a selection");
		}
		while("".equals(userChoice));

Since I had problems using the != operator not working when comparing a string (nightmare), for the moment of learning I'm using the equals method, my question is what is the alternative method to equals?

I need this while loop to continue iterating WHILE the input is not equal to "q" or "p"

q for quitting the program and p for playing the game.

I need the opposite method to equals.