equals() and hashCode() methods for the objects stored in Hazelcast

When you store a key, value in a distributed Map, Hazelcast serializes the key and value and stores the byte array version of them in local ConcurrentHashMaps. And this ConcurrentHashMap uses the equals and hashCode methods of byte array version of your key. So it does not take into account the actual equals and hashCode implementations of your objects. So it is important that you choose your keys in a proper way. Implementing the equals and hashCode is not enough, it is also important that the object is always serialized into the same byte array. All primitive types, like; String, Long, Integer and etc. are good candidates for keys to use in Hazelcast. An unsorted Set is an example of a very bad candidate because Java Serialization may serialize the same unsorted set in two different byte arrays.

Note that the distributed Set and List stores its entries as the keys in a distributed Map. So the notes above apply to the objects you store in Set and List.