static bool eqic(S a, S b) {
  ifdef eqic_lower
    ret compareIgnoreCase_lower(a, b) != 0;
  endifdef
  ifndef eqic_lower
    if ((a == null) != (b == null)) ret false;
    if (a == null) ret true;
    ret a.equalsIgnoreCase(b);
  endifndef
}

ifclass Symbol
static bool eqic(Symbol a, Symbol b) {
  ret eq(a, b);
}

static bool eqic(Symbol a, S b) {
  ret eqic(asString(a), b);
}
endif

static bool eqic(char a, char b) {
  if (a == b) true;
  ifndef eqic_lower
    char u1 = Character.toUpperCase(a);
    char u2 = Character.toUpperCase(b);
    if (u1 == u2) true;
  endifndef
  ret Character.toLowerCase(u1) == Character.toLowerCase(u2);
}