title: Why does arraylist.contains() not work?
body: <p>I have an ArrayList that I am filling with the things I print to make sure I don't repeat the same String. I am using the .contains() method to check:</p>
  
  <pre><code>if(!outputted.contains(string)){etc...} 
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I ran the debugger on Eclipse when it still printed repeats, and I saw that even when the ArrayList does hold the String, it still reads the if statement as if it didn't. I'm really confused as to why this is happening. Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.</p>