/ RSpec
/
method

equal

equal(expected)
public

Passes if actual and expected are the same object (object identity).

See http://www.ruby-doc.org/core/classes/Object.html#M001057 for more information about equality in Ruby.

Examples

  5.should equal(5) #Fixnums are equal
  "5".should_not equal("5") #Strings that look the same are not the same object

2Notes

Test strings with match

lzap · Mar 31, 2011

To test a string use match, e.g.

"test".should match("test")

Test strings with eql

emime · Apr 22, 2011

Equal fails when comparing two different string objects:

"test".should equal "test" #=> fail "test".should match "test" #=> pass "test".should eql "test" #=> pass

In fact:

"test".object_id.should_not eql "test".object_id #=> pass

Match fails when the string contains regex special characters not escaped:

"test".should match "test" #=> fail for invalid regex "test".should eql "test" #=> pass

In fact, match treats input as regexp:

"*test*".should match /\\*test\\*/ #=> pass