---
## Overview
Being able to compare objects in `Dart` often involves having to override the `==` operator as well as `hashCode`.
Not only is it verbose and tedious, but failure to do so can lead to inefficient code which does not behave as we expect.
By default, `==` returns true if two objects are the same instance.
Let's say we have the following class:
```dart
class Person {
const Person(this.name);
final String name;
}
```
We can create instances of `Person` like so:
```dart
void main() {
final Person bob = Person("Bob");
}
```
Later if we try to compare two instances of `Person` either in our production code or in our tests we will run into a problem.
```dart
print(bob == Person("Bob")); // false
```
For more information about this, you can check out the official [Dart Documentation](https://www.dartlang.org/guides/language/effective-dart/design#equality).
In order to be able to compare two instances of `Person` we need to change our class to override `==` and `hashCode` like so:
```dart
class Person {
const Person(this.name);
final String name;
@override
bool operator ==(Object other) =>
identical(this, other) ||
other is Person &&
runtimeType == other.runtimeType &&
name == other.name;
@override
int get hashCode => name.hashCode;
}
```
Now if we run the following code again:
```dart
print(bob == Person("Bob")); // true
```
it will be able to compare different instances of `Person`.
You can see how this can quickly become a hassle when dealing with complex classes. This is where `Equatable` comes in!
## What does Equatable do?
`Equatable` overrides `==` and `hashCode` for you so you don't have to waste your time writing lots of boilerplate code.
There are other packages that will actually generate the boilerplate for you; however, you still have to run the code generation step which is not ideal.
With `Equatable` there is no code generation needed and we can focus more on writing amazing applications and less on mundane tasks.
## Usage
First, we need to do add `equatable` to the dependencies of the `pubspec.yaml`
```yaml
dependencies:
equatable: ^2.0.0
```
Next, we need to install it:
```sh
# Dart
pub get
# Flutter
flutter packages get
```
Lastly, we need to extend `Equatable`
```dart
import 'package:equatable/equatable.dart';
class Person extends Equatable {
const Person(this.name);
final String name;
@override
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