A method, apparatus, and computer program product for determining, in a computer environment, the equivalence, if any, of two algebraic expressions. The expressions are recast into a form of one or more token pairs arranged sequentially in a string, such that each token pair includes an operator followed by an operand. The strings are reduced in accordance with a set of predetermined simplifying rules. The reduced strings are compared by matching, to detect equivalence of the two algebraic expressions. The source code is compiled into object code, wherein the source code includes the two algebraic expressions, and wherein the compiling includes the recasting, the reducing, and the comparing. The method, apparal us, and computer program product may be used in compiler optimisation of source code and like computing tasks.