Java String equalsIgnoreCase()

The syntax of the string equalsIgnoreCase() method is:

string.equalsIgnoreCase(String str)

Here, string is an object of the String class.

equalsIgnoreCase() Parameters

The string equalsIgnoreCase() method takes a single parameter.

• str - the string to be compared

equalsToIgnoreCase() Return Value

• returns true if the strings are equal, ignoring case considerations
• returns false if the strings are not equal
• returns false if the str argument is null

Example 1: Java String equalsIgnoreCase()

class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String str1 = "Learn Java";
        String str2 = "learn java";
        String str3 = "Learn Kolin";
        Boolean result;

        // comparing str1 with str2
        result = str1.equalsIgnoreCase(str2);
        System.out.println(result); // true

        // comparing str1 with str3
        result = str1.equalsIgnoreCase(str3);
        System.out.println(result); // false

        // comparing str3 with str1
        result = str3.equalsIgnoreCase(str1);
        System.out.println(result); // false
    }
}

Here,

• str1 and str2 are equal if you do not consider case differences. Hence, str1.equalsIgnoreCase(str2) returns true.
• str1 and str3 are not equal. Hence, str1.equalsIgnoreCase(str3) and str3.equalsIgnoreCase(str1) returns false.

Example 2: Check if Two Strings are Equal

class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String str1 = "LEARN JAVA";
        String str2 = "Learn Java";
        
        // if str1 and str2 are equal (ignoring case differences),
        // the result is true
        if (str1.equalsIgnoreCase(str2)) {
            System.out.println("str1 and str2 are equal");
        }
        else {
            System.out.println("str1 and str2 are not equal");
        }
    }
}

Output

str1 and str2 are equal

If you need to compare two strings with case differences taken into consideration, use either

• Java String equals()
• Java String compareTo()