Java object < = relational operator check

In Java, when = = is used to compare two objects, their references are also compared But what happens when other relational operators are used for comparison? For example:

Integer a = new Integer(10);
 Integer b = new Integer(9);
 if (a >= b) {
  System.out.println("A is greater");
 }

When I run this, I get the output because a is bigger. Why? References are not compared, or what have they done, is it just a coincidence?

In addition, if one of the parameters is original, will the non original parameters be unpacked as primitives for such comparison?

Solution

In your example, the integer is unboxed to the original int (s) Reference type has no < = (or > =) comparison (no comparable, comparator or similar)