What is the difference between == and .equals() in Java?

In Java, == compares references (memory addresses) for objects — it checks if two variables point to the exact same object in memory. For primitives, it compares values directly. .equals() compares content/value — it checks if two objects are logically equal. For example, two different String objects with the value "hello" would return false with == (different objects) but true with .equals() (same content). Always use .equals() when comparing object content. Override equals() in custom classes to define meaningful equality.