Equality of Objects

One caution must be observed with Strings vs. Objects:

Suppose we had a function member which tests membership:

static boolean member(int sought, IntList L)

{

while( !isEmpty(L) )

  {

  if( sought == first(L) )

    return true;	// sought is found

  L = rest(L);

  }

return false;		// sought never found

}

This definition would not work well for Strings:

static boolean member(String sought, StringList L)

{

while( !isEmpty(L) )

  {

  if( sought == first(L) )

    return true;	// sought is found

  L = rest(L);

  }

return false;		// sought never found

}

Why not?