Number comparison using '==', instead of 'equals()'

Reports code that uses == or != instead of equals() to test for Number equality.

With auto-boxing, it is easy to make the mistake of comparing two instances of a wrapper type instead of two primitives, for example Integer instead of int.

Example:

  void foo(Integer a, Integer b) {
    final boolean bool = a == b;
  }

If a is known to be non-null, then it's safe to apply the "unsafe" quick-fix and get the result similar to the following:

  void foo(Integer a, Integer b) {
    final boolean bool = a.equals(b);
  }

Locating this inspection

By ID

Can be used to locate inspection in e.g. Qodana configuration files, where you can quickly enable or disable it, or adjust its settings.

NumberEquality

Via Settings dialog

Path to the inspection settings via IntelliJ Platform IDE Settings dialog, when you need to adjust inspection settings directly from your IDE.

Settings or Preferences | Editor | Inspections | Java | Probable bugs

Inspection ID: NumberEquality

Suppressing Inspection

You can suppress this inspection by placing the following comment marker before the code fragment where you no longer want messages from this inspection to appear:

//noinspection NumberEquality

More detailed instructions as well as other ways and options that you have can be found in the product documentation:

IntelliJ IDEA 2025.3

Inspection Details
By default bundled with:	IntelliJ IDEA 2025.3, Qodana for JVM 2025.3,

Last modified: 03 December 2025