* </ul>
   *
   * <p>This assumes that any non-null objects passed to this function conform to the {@code
   * equals()} contract.
   *
   * <p><b>Java 7+ users:</b> This method should be treated as deprecated; use {@link
   * java.util.Objects#equals} instead.
   */
  public static boolean equal(@CheckForNull Object a, @CheckForNull Object b) {
    return a == b || (a != null && a.equals(b));
  }

  /**

   * </ul>
   *
   * <p>This assumes that any non-null objects passed to this function conform to the {@code
   * equals()} contract.
   *
   * <p><b>Java 7+ users:</b> This method should be treated as deprecated; use {@link
   * java.util.Objects#equals} instead.
   */
  public static boolean equal(@CheckForNull Object a, @CheckForNull Object b) {
    return a == b || (a != null && a.equals(b));
  }

  /**