java - Cannot invoke equals(boolean) on the primitive type boolean -

i want check equality of first , last 2 characters of string have written condition like

if (str.length() >= 4             && ((str.startswith(str.substring(0, 2))).equals(str.endswith(str                     .substring(str.length() - 3, str.length() - 1))))) 

but getting error cannot invoke equals(boolean) on primitive type boolean

so root cause?

error coming because : str.startswith() returns boolean value , calling equals() boolean

use expression compare :

    str.substring(0, 2).equals(str.substring(str.length() - 3, str.length() - 1))