Evaluating a mathematical equation in an Array

Question

Im working on a simple app about factoring polynomials and so far i have used

.equals();

to check and compare the answers. But i realized that for example 4x^2 + 2x - 4 is the same as 2x + 4x^2 - 4. I am wondering how i can check without adding "2x + 4x^2 - 4" in my array? I thought about splitting it into tokens but how do i compare it tho?

Answer 1

split the array on based of operators, then you can compare each term separately. even order of terms can be checked. Since this is a string i see no other solution to this.