Where the first IF condition is true, code statements in the ELSE section are still processed [duplicate]

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• How do I compare strings in Java? 23 answers

As my code is processing inside the first IF statement, for some reason it still proceeds to execute the other statements inside my ELSE statement.

Thoughts?

(Note: I welcome code optimization suggestions also)

public class Parse {

    String price = parsePrice("FREE");

    public static String parsePrice(String price) {
        if (price == "FREE") {
            return "0.00";
        } else {
            price = price.replaceAll(',','');
            return price.replaceAll('$','');
        }
    }

}

Expected Results: After the IF code processes, it breaks out of the IF/Else code block This is the only code that should execute:

return "0.00"; 

Actual Results: After the IF code processes, it proceeds to process the Else code This is the code that executes:

return "0.00";
price = price.replaceAll(',','');
return price.replaceAll('$','');