Question

I have two instances of the same class:

Object instance1;
Object instance2;

I know that the class in question has an array field. I need to compare the identityHashCode of the array field, and in some cases I expect it to be the same.

The thing is that they are always different. I am guessing that is to be expected since they are in effect two different instances.

Is there a way to compare two arrays disregarding what elements they hold?

I am using Java reflection to get the value of the arrays.

Answer 1

Is there a way to compare two arrays disregarding what elements they
hold?

Sure, you could compare the component type and the size:

/**
 * Returns true iff two arrays of the same component type and
 * length are passed in.
 */
public static boolean pseudoArrayEquals(Object a, Object b){
    if(a==null||b==null||!a.getClass().isArray()||!b.getClass().isArray())
        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Expected two arrays");
    return a.getClass() == b.getClass()
           && Array.getLength(a) == Array.getLength(b);
}