String compare with Form field

I am new to JSP and am having trouble comparing string with the value in a form field submitted.

The following is the code that I am executing through Tomcat and is not giving me the desired result:


Code:
---------
<%
String myvar = request.getParameter("var1");
boolean first = false;
if (myvar == null) {
first = true;
} else {
if (myvar == "compareme") out.println("string matches"); else out.println("string MISMATCH");
}
%>

If you enter input as "compareme", I should say "MATCH",
else "MISMATCH"

<% if (! first) { %>
Input was <%= myvar %>

<% } %>

---

Please enter a string
and

---------
You will notice that even though the correct string "compareme" is submitted in the form, the string comparison still fails. I have tried appending .toString() and .trim() to myvar but that has not helped either.

I am obviously missing something very basic in JSP. Please help

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