diff --git a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/controller/MotdController.java b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/controller/MotdController.java
index e76edeb4b5cf2efb06ce7cdc9ea1f1239e75d79a..9f1e5155476635107bb6a1cd114feeb03e8bac3a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/controller/MotdController.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/controller/MotdController.java
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ public class MotdController extends AbstractController {
 			client.setTime(Long.parseLong(clientdate));
 		}
 		if (adminview) {
-			if (sessionkey.equals("null")) {
+			if ("null".equals(sessionkey)) {
 				motds = motdService.getAdminMotds();
 			} else {
 				motds = motdService.getAllSessionMotds(sessionkey);
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ public class MotdController extends AbstractController {
 			) {
 		if (motd != null) {
 			Motd newMotd;
-			if (motd.getAudience().equals("session") && motd.getSessionkey() != null) {
+			if ("session".equals(motd.getAudience()) && motd.getSessionkey() != null) {
 				newMotd = motdService.saveSessionMotd(motd.getSessionkey(), motd);
 			} else {
 				newMotd = motdService.saveMotd(motd);
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ public class MotdController extends AbstractController {
 			@ApiParam(value = "motdkey from current motd", required = true) @PathVariable final String motdkey,
 			@ApiParam(value = "current motd", required = true) @RequestBody final Motd motd
 			) {
-		if (motd.getAudience().equals("session") && motd.getSessionkey() != null) {
+		if ("session".equals(motd.getAudience()) && motd.getSessionkey() != null) {
 			return motdService.updateSessionMotd(motd.getSessionkey(), motd);
 		} else {
 			return motdService.updateMotd(motd);
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ public class MotdController extends AbstractController {
 	@RequestMapping(value = "/{motdkey}", method = RequestMethod.DELETE)
 	public void deleteMotd(@ApiParam(value = "Motd-key from the message that shall be deleted", required = true) @PathVariable final String motdkey) {
 		Motd motd = motdService.getMotd(motdkey);
-		if (motd.getAudience().equals("session")) {
+		if ("session".equals(motd.getAudience())) {
 			motdService.deleteSessionMotd(motd.getSessionkey(), motd);
 		} else {
 			motdService.deleteMotd(motd);
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/controller/SessionController.java b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/controller/SessionController.java
index 7cc40a1bafe472000ff0802978745c95ffe39ad2..570db51eb51488a2324ba7635e8b1f9175d7dcca 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/controller/SessionController.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/controller/SessionController.java
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ public class SessionController extends PaginationController {
 			) {
 		List<Session> sessions;
 
-		if (!username.equals("")) {
+		if (!"".equals(username)) {
 			try {
 				if (ownedOnly && !visitedOnly) {
 					sessions = sessionService.getUserSessions(username);
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ public class SessionController extends PaginationController {
 			return null;
 		}
 
-		if (sortby != null && sortby.equals("shortname")) {
+		if ("shortname".equals(sortby)) {
 			Collections.sort(sessions, new SessionShortNameComparator());
 		} else {
 			Collections.sort(sessions, new SessionNameComparator());
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ public class SessionController extends PaginationController {
 			return null;
 		}
 
-		if (sortby != null && sortby.equals("shortname")) {
+		if ("shortname".equals(sortby)) {
 			Collections.sort(sessions, new SessionInfoShortNameComparator());
 		} else {
 			Collections.sort(sessions, new SessionInfoNameComparator());
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/dao/CouchDBDao.java b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/dao/CouchDBDao.java
index 00551b66a7be66c14935a4aacaef283649a66c73..7224db57db59a6daf74fa3cb0f0f7812a99dc699 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/dao/CouchDBDao.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/dao/CouchDBDao.java
@@ -1200,9 +1200,9 @@ public class CouchDBDao implements IDatabaseDao, ApplicationEventPublisherAware
 		} else if (fstkey.size() == 3) {
 			type = fstkey.getString(2);
 		}
-		if (type.equals("read")) {
+		if ("read".equals(type)) {
 			read = fst.optInt("value");
-		} else if (type.equals("unread")) {
+		} else if ("unread".equals(type)) {
 			unread = fst.optInt("value");
 		}
 
@@ -1213,9 +1213,9 @@ public class CouchDBDao implements IDatabaseDao, ApplicationEventPublisherAware
 			} else {
 				type = sndkey.getString(2);
 			}
-			if (type.equals("read")) {
+			if ("read".equals(type)) {
 				read = snd.optInt("value");
-			} else if (type.equals("unread")) {
+			} else if ("unread".equals(type)) {
 				unread = snd.optInt("value");
 			}
 		}
@@ -2110,7 +2110,7 @@ public class CouchDBDao implements IDatabaseDao, ApplicationEventPublisherAware
 	@Override
 	public void setVotingAdmissions(final Session session, final boolean disableVoting, List<Question> questions) {
 		for (final Question q : questions) {
-			if (!q.getQuestionType().equals("flashcard")) {
+			if (!"flashcard".equals(q.getQuestionType())) {
 				q.setVotingDisabled(disableVoting);
 			}
 		}
@@ -2606,7 +2606,7 @@ public class CouchDBDao implements IDatabaseDao, ApplicationEventPublisherAware
 		final Morpher dynaMorpher = new BeanMorpher(PossibleAnswer.class, morpherRegistry);
 		morpherRegistry.registerMorpher(dynaMorpher);
 		for (final Document document : questiondocs) {
-			if (!document.optString("error").equals("")) {
+			if (!"".equals(document.optString("error"))) {
 				// Skip documents we could not load. Maybe they were deleted.
 				continue;
 			}
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/domain/LearningProgressFactory.java b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/domain/LearningProgressFactory.java
index ce43f96393cdaa36b6b5e07ce49cbabdda08b665..89a750ce1675bf3fe33d75f571413499b4124ef9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/domain/LearningProgressFactory.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/domain/LearningProgressFactory.java
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public class LearningProgressFactory implements NovaEventVisitor, ILearningProgr
 	@Override
 	public LearningProgress create(String progressType, String questionVariant) {
 		VariantLearningProgress learningProgress;
-		if (progressType.equals("questions")) {
+		if ("questions".equals(progressType)) {
 			learningProgress = new QuestionBasedLearningProgress(databaseDao);
 		} else {
 			learningProgress = new PointBasedLearningProgress(databaseDao);
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/entities/Question.java b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/entities/Question.java
index c88c4c534e37fbb16260b64b60be2f2d13f0aa3e..a99670287ba7b6ce8c87f1bdbc730db9c2969e0e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/entities/Question.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/entities/Question.java
@@ -653,9 +653,9 @@ public class Question implements Serializable {
 	public int calculateValue(Answer answer) {
 		if (answer.isAbstention()) {
 			return 0;
-		} else if (this.questionType.equals("mc")) {
+		} else if ("mc".equals(this.questionType)) {
 			return calculateMultipleChoiceValue(answer);
-		} else if (this.questionType.equals("grid")) {
+		} else if ("grid".equals(this.questionType)) {
 			return calculateGridValue(answer);
 		} else {
 			return calculateRegularValue(answer);
@@ -780,7 +780,7 @@ public class Question implements Serializable {
 		int value = 0;
 		String[] answers = answer.getAnswerText().split(",");
 		for (int i = 0; i < this.possibleAnswers.size() && i < answers.length; i++) {
-			if (answers[i].equals("1")) {
+			if ("1".equals(answers[i])) {
 				PossibleAnswer p = this.possibleAnswers.get(i);
 				value += p.getValue();
 			}
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/security/ApplicationPermissionEvaluator.java b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/security/ApplicationPermissionEvaluator.java
index 7a87e79c32147defeeee2b0196a04c87b5380426..bf0614506309d12e2f9474dce177e6174c71a9d7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/security/ApplicationPermissionEvaluator.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/security/ApplicationPermissionEvaluator.java
@@ -103,9 +103,9 @@ public class ApplicationPermissionEvaluator implements PermissionEvaluator {
 			final Serializable targetId,
 			final Object permission
 			) {
-		if (permission instanceof String && (permission.equals("owner") || permission.equals("write"))) {
+		if (permission instanceof String && ("owner".equals(permission) || "write".equals(permission))) {
 			return dao.getSessionFromKeyword(targetId.toString()).getCreator().equals(username);
-		} else if (permission instanceof String && permission.equals("read")) {
+		} else if (permission instanceof String && "read".equals(permission)) {
 			return dao.getSessionFromKeyword(targetId.toString()).isActive();
 		}
 		return false;
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ public class ApplicationPermissionEvaluator implements PermissionEvaluator {
 			final Serializable targetId,
 			final Object permission
 			) {
-		if (permission instanceof String && permission.equals("owner")) {
+		if (permission instanceof String && "owner".equals(permission)) {
 			final Question question = dao.getQuestion(targetId.toString());
 			if (question != null) {
 				final Session session = dao.getSessionFromId(question.getSessionId());
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ public class ApplicationPermissionEvaluator implements PermissionEvaluator {
 			final Serializable targetId,
 			final Object permission
 			) {
-		if (permission instanceof String && permission.equals("owner")) {
+		if (permission instanceof String && "owner".equals(permission)) {
 			final InterposedQuestion question = dao.getInterposedQuestion(targetId.toString());
 			if (question != null) {
 				// Does the creator want to delete his own question?
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/services/MotdService.java b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/services/MotdService.java
index f4ac031e2cc3efe25bf4b4f0084d02cd23e7162b..ecda866383aadd4023b44847a43ed788ef50ff18 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/services/MotdService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/services/MotdService.java
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ public class MotdService implements IMotdService {
 	@PreAuthorize("isAuthenticated()")
 	public MotdList getMotdListForUser(final String username) {
 		final User user = userService.getCurrentUser();
-		if (username.equals(user.getUsername()) && !user.getType().equals("guest")) {
+		if (username.equals(user.getUsername()) && !"guest".equals(user.getType())) {
 			return databaseDao.getMotdListForUser(username);
 		}
 		return null;
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/services/UserService.java b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/services/UserService.java
index 0952c6aed3700742dd388c8299c044810117d967..1960d976fba0ff769fc516b9b41dfb9028c40237 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/services/UserService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/services/UserService.java
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ public class UserService implements IUserService {
 			}
 		}
 
-		if (user == null || user.getUsername().equals("anonymous")) {
+		if (user == null || "anonymous".equals(user.getUsername())) {
 			throw new UnauthorizedException();
 		}
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/socket/ARSnovaSocketIOServer.java b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/socket/ARSnovaSocketIOServer.java
index b8398d9e6fe5072ec85221ab45086b5342e97e75..2b2b01f58e867739b8d716ec35ed6df425d56029 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/socket/ARSnovaSocketIOServer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/socket/ARSnovaSocketIOServer.java
@@ -512,9 +512,9 @@ public class ARSnovaSocketIOServer implements ARSnovaSocket, NovaEventVisitor {
 
 		// Update the unanswered count for the question variant that was answered.
 		final de.thm.arsnova.entities.Question question = event.getQuestion();
-		if (question.getQuestionVariant().equals("lecture")) {
+		if ("lecture".equals(question.getQuestionVariant())) {
 			sendToUser(event.getUser(), "unansweredLecturerQuestions", questionService.getUnAnsweredLectureQuestionIds(sessionKey, event.getUser()));
-		} else if (question.getQuestionVariant().equals("preparation")) {
+		} else if ("preparation".equals(question.getQuestionVariant())) {
 			sendToUser(event.getUser(), "unansweredPreparationQuestions", questionService.getUnAnsweredPreparationQuestionIds(sessionKey, event.getUser()));
 		}
 	}