Comparing two objects

I have two objects, player1 and player 2. These two objects have properties: String first name,String last name, double weight and int grade. I want to create a method that takes in a player object and compares it with the players in my list. So, for example, something like this:

Code:

---

protected void find(T target)
  // Searches list for an occurence of an element e such that
  // e.equals(target). If successful, sets instance variables
  // found to true and location to the array index of e. If
  // not successful, sets found to false.
  {
    location = 0;
    found = false;

    while (location < numElements)
    {
      if ([B]list[location].equals(target)[/B])
      { 
        found = true;
        return;
      }
      else
        location++;
    }
  }

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But when I pass in a player with the EXACT same attributes as a player in the list, the equals method still returns false. What do I have to do to compare two players so that

Code:

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player1 = (George, Lemons, 180, 9)
player2 = (George, Lemons, 180, 9)
player1.equals(player2)

---

returns true?

You have to override the equals() method so that it does what you want. Because of the contracts for equals() and hashCode() you will probably have to implement both. There is a (rather old) JavaWorld article that discusses what's involved.

Cross posted at Comparing two objects

Agreed, you definitely have to override the equals() method to make the object "understand" when it's equal to other Object