Scanners put into if statements

[Andy Hammersmith]

I was curious on why when i try to use this method in my driver it wont accept what i type in as either the If or the Else If.
Am I programing something wrong? Because I've been working on this for hours and cant get it.

import java.util.*;
public class TicTacPlay
{
	boolean firstTurn = false;
	boolean difficulty = false;

	public String Instructions()
	{
		while(1<10)
    	{
			Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);

			System.out.println("You are going to play the game of TicTacToe.\nThe instructions are as follows: The players put their symbol" +
	    		" in an empty square when it is their turn. The first with three of their symbols along a straight line or diagonally line "+
	    		"is the winner.\n");

			System.out.print("Would like to face the computer on hard?(y/n)");
			String diffLevel = input.nextLine();
			if(diffLevel == "y")
			{
				System.out.println("\tThe computer shall choose where it goes at random.");
				difficulty = true;
				break;
			}
			else if(diffLevel == "n" )
			{
				System.out.println("\tThe computer now make intelligent moves.");
				break;
			}
			else
			{
				System.out.println("\tPlease enter again.");
			}
    	}
		return "";
	}

[Kemal Sokolovic]

Why do you compare Strings with == operator? You should use equals instead.

if("y".equals(diffLevel))
{
    ...
}

This is the preferred way to test for equality, which prevents NullPointerException to be thrown.

Edit: Those long lines in your code really spoil the layout of the page. You could edit your original post and make those lines shorter.

[Andy Hammersmith]

That worked wonderfully. Thank you so much.

[Kemal Sokolovic]

You are welcome.

Do you understand the difference between == operator and equals() method? Make sure you understand why your code didn't work.

[Andy Hammersmith]

No, not fully. Could you explain it for?

[Kemal Sokolovic]

Andy Hammersmith wrote:No, not fully. Could you explain it for?

I could, but the question has been asked quite a times here so a little search will probably give you a satisfactory answer (link).

[Andy Hammersmith]

Thank you so much, again.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Another link about ==