Name: gm110360 Date: 09/30/2004


A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
The javadoc for the equals() method says:

"The equals method implements an equivalence relation on non-null object references: "

This sentence is followed by a list of 5 properties. However, this is somewhat misleading because the final two properties are not properties of an equivalence relation. This could confuse someone into thinking that those two properties *are* in fact part of the definition of an equivalence relation.


EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
I would rewrite the relevant portion of the javadoc as follows:

...
<p>
The <code>equals</code> method implements an equivalence relation on non-null object references:
<ul>
<li>It is <i>reflexive</i>...
<li>It is <i>symmetric</i>...
<li>It is <i>transitive</i>...
</ul>
<p>
In addition, this method satisfies the following properties:
<ul>
<li>It is <i>consistent</i>...
<li>For any non-null reference value...
</ul>
...
ACTUAL -
The doc currently says

...
<p>
The <code>equals</code> method implements an equivalence relation on non-null object references:
<ul>
<li>It is <i>reflexive</i>...
<li>It is <i>symmetric</i>...
<li>It is <i>transitive</i>...
<li>It is <i>consistent</i>...
<li>For any non-null reference value...
</ul>
...

URL OF FAULTY DOCUMENTATION :
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/api/java/lang/Object.html#equals(java.lang.Object)
(Incident Review ID: 315906)
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