The pros, cons, and alternatives of equals() in java are:

Advantages of using equals()

1. This is used for testing whether one object is equal to another or not.
2. Equals is defined in the object class, from which all other classes are derived, it is automatically defined for every class. 
3. It has been defined in a meaningful way for most Java core classes.

Disadvantages of using equals()

1. It doesn’t perform an intelligent comparison for most classes’ uncles the class overrides it. 
2. If it is not defined for a class (user), it behaves the same as ==.
3. It is hard to get the right answer in the case of subclasses. 

Alternative for equality in java is:

1. Java string equalsIgnoreCase() method.
2. Using if-else statement.