Chissa se le API della classe String ti aiutano a capire...
codice:
equals

public boolean equals(Object anObject)

    Compares this string to the specified object. The result is true if and only if the argument is not null and is a 
String object that represents the same sequence of 
characters as this object.

    Overrides:
        equals in class Object

    Parameters:
        anObject - the object to compare this String against. 
    Returns:
        true if the String are equal; false otherwise.
    See Also:
        compareTo(java.lang.String), equalsIgnoreCase(java.lang.String)