Equal method question java

Question

what does "this "refer to in the equal method? a1 or a2?

https://code.sololearn.com/cvT28M3GJky1/?ref=app

Answer 1

a1 - the object from which you call the method.

Answer 2

this always refers to the current object.
Btw best answer for Shamima ;)

Answer 3

@oyl, according to the code,
"other" is just an another Animal object which has been created by downcasting obj. "other" is not a keyword like "this".

Answer 4

"this" refers to the current object.
a1.equals(a2)
here "this" means a1. And a2 has been passed to equals method as argument.
So in equals() method,
if(this==obj) will be stated as:
if(a1 == a2)

if you write a2.equals(a1),
then "this" will refer to a2

Answer 5

@Shamima Yasmin @Tashi N
so "other" refers to a1 too?