Why is this an issue?
Because the equals method takes a generic Object as a parameter, any type of object may be passed to it. The method
should not assume it will only be used to test objects of its class type. It must instead check the parameter’s type.
Noncompliant code example
public boolean equals(Object obj) { // Noncompliant
MyClass mc = (MyClass)obj;
// ...
}
Compliant solution
public boolean equals(Object obj) {
if (obj == null)
return false;
if (this.getClass() != obj.getClass())
return false;
MyClass mc = (MyClass)obj;
// ...
}
