{"id":23757,"date":"2026-06-03T04:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T04:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharpinterview.online\/?sharp_quiz=java-interview-equals-hashcode-foundation"},"modified":"2026-06-03T04:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T04:23:11","slug":"java-interview-equals-hashcode-foundation","status":"publish","type":"sharp_quiz","link":"https:\/\/sharpinterview.online\/?sharp_quiz=java-interview-equals-hashcode-foundation","title":{"rendered":"Java: Which statement about equals() and hashCode() Contract is the strongest interview answer?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Question<\/h2>\n<p>Which statement about equals() and hashCode() Contract is the strongest interview answer?<\/p>\n<ol type=\"A\">\n<li>If two objects are equal according to equals, they must return the same hashCode.<\/li>\n<li>equals() and hashCode() Contract is mostly a naming style choice and has little effect on runtime or design.<\/li>\n<li>equals() and hashCode() Contract exists mainly to reduce the number of Java files in a project.<\/li>\n<li>equals() and hashCode() Contract matters only for frontend frameworks, not for core Java applications.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Hint<\/h2>\n<p>Start with the core rule behind equals() and hashCode() Contract.<\/p>\n<h2>Answer and rationale<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Correct answer:<\/strong> A. If two objects are equal according to equals, they must return the same hashCode.<\/p>\n<p>If two objects are equal according to equals, they must return the same hashCode. This is the base concept interviewers commonly test first.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Track:<\/strong> Java<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Which statement about equals() and hashCode() Contract is the strongest interview answer?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"template":"","topic":[12,3,4],"difficulty":[6],"class_list":["post-23757","sharp_quiz","type-sharp_quiz","status-publish","hentry","topic-core-java-equals-and-hashcode-contract","topic-java","topic-java-interview-questions","difficulty-easy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharpinterview.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sharp_quiz\/23757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharpinterview.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sharp_quiz"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharpinterview.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/sharp_quiz"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharpinterview.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharpinterview.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharpinterview.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftopic&post=23757"},{"taxonomy":"difficulty","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharpinterview.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdifficulty&post=23757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}