What is the output of the following code?

Question

```
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String s1 = "Welcome to Java!";
String s2 = "Welcome to Java!";

if (s1 == s2)
System.out.println("s1 and s2 reference to the same String object");
else
System.out.println("s1 and s2 reference to different String objects");
}
}
```
a. s1 and s2 reference to the same String object
b. s1 and s2 reference to different String objects

Answer 1

a. s1 and s2 reference to the same String object
Since strings are immutable and are ubiquitous in programming, to improve efficiency and save memory, the JVM uses a unique instance for string literals with the same character sequence. Such an instance is called interned.