--- old/src/share/vm/oops/symbol.hpp	2015-04-15 12:03:16.097334698 -0700
+++ new/src/share/vm/oops/symbol.hpp	2015-04-15 12:03:15.954324700 -0700
@@ -223,6 +223,28 @@
   void print()         { print_on(tty);       }
   void print_value()   { print_value_on(tty); }
 
+  // Allows two distinct Symbol objects to be considered equal as long as
+  // they contain the same string. However, no two Symbol objects stored in the same
+  // SymbolTable would contain the same string. Therefore, if two distinct Symbol
+  // objects contain the same string, they must belong to different SymbolTables.
+  inline bool equals(const Symbol* other) const {
+    if (this && other) {
+      int len = this->utf8_length();
+      if (len != other->utf8_length()) {
+        return false;
+      }
+      if (this->_identity_hash != other->_identity_hash) {
+        return false;
+      }
+      return (strncmp((const char*)(this->base()), (const char*)(other->base()), len) == 0);
+    } else {
+      return (this == other);
+    }
+  }
+  inline bool not_equals(const Symbol* other) const {
+    return !(this->equals(other));
+  }
+
 #ifndef PRODUCT
   // Empty constructor to create a dummy symbol object on stack
   // only for getting its vtable pointer.