What is a NullPointerException, and how do I fix i

Question

What are Null Pointer Exceptions (java.lang.NullPointerException) and what causes them?

What methods/tools can be used to determine the cause so that you stop the exception from causing the program to terminate prematurely?

Answer 1

A lot of explanations are already present to explain how it happens and how to fix it, but you should also follow best practices to avoid NullPointerExceptions at all.

See also: A good list of best practices

I would add, very important, make a good use of the final modifier. Using the "final" modifier whenever applicable in Java

Summary:

1. Use the final modifier to enforce good initialization.
2. Avoid returning null in methods, for example returning empty collections when applicable.
3. Use annotations @NotNull and @Nullable
4. Fail fast and use asserts to avoid propagation of null objects through the whole application when they shouldn't be null.
5. Use equals with a known object first: if("knownObject".equals(unknownObject)
6. Prefer valueOf() over toString().
7. Use null safe StringUtils methods StringUtils.isEmpty(null).

Answer 2

In Java, everything (excluding primitive types) is in the form of a class.

If you want to use any object then you have two phases:

1. Declare
2. Initialization

Example:

• Declaration: Object object;
• Initialization: object = new Object();

Same for the array concept:

• Declaration: Item item[] = new Item[5];
• Initialization: item[0] = new Item();

If you are not giving the initialization section then the NullPointerException arise.

Answer 3

A null pointer exception is an indicator that you are using an object without initializing it.

For example, below is a student class which will use it in our code.

public class Student {

    private int id;

    public int getId() {
        return this.id;
    }

    public setId(int newId) {
        this.id = newId;
    }
}

The below code gives you a null pointer exception.

public class School {

    Student student;

    public School() {
        try {
            student.getId();
        }
        catch(Exception e) {
            System.out.println("Null pointer exception");
        }
    }
}

Because you are using student, but you forgot to initialize it like in the correct code shown below:

public class School {

    Student student;

    public School() {
        try {
            student = new Student();
            student.setId(12);
            student.getId();
        }
        catch(Exception e) {
            System.out.println("Null pointer exception");
        }
    }
}

Answer 4

A null pointer exception is thrown when an application attempts to use null in a case where an object is required. These include:

1. Calling the instance method of a null object.
2. Accessing or modifying the field of a null object.
3. Taking the length of null as if it were an array.
4. Accessing or modifying the slots of null as if it were an array.
5. Throwing null as if it were a Throwable value.

Applications should throw instances of this class to indicate other illegal uses of the null object.

Reference: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/lang/NullPointerException.html

Answer 5

It's like you are trying to access an object which is null. Consider below example:

TypeA objA;

At this time you have just declared this object but not initialized or instantiated. And whenever you try to access any property or method in it, it will throw NullPointerException which makes sense.

See this below example as well:

String a = null;
System.out.println(a.toString()); // NullPointerException will be thrown

Answer 6

NullPointerExceptions are exceptions that occur when you try to use a reference that points to no location in memory (null) as though it were referencing an object. Calling a method on a null reference or trying to access a field of a null reference will trigger a NullPointerException. These are the most common, but other ways are listed on the NullPointerException javadoc page.

Probably the quickest example code I could come up with to illustrate a NullPointerException would be:

public class Example {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Object obj = null;
        obj.hashCode();
    }

}

On the first line inside main, I'm explicitly setting the Object reference obj equal to null. This means I have a reference, but it isn't pointing to any object. After that, I try to treat the reference as though it points to an object by calling a method on it. This results in a NullPointerException because there is no code to execute in the location that the reference is pointing.

(This is a technicality, but I think it bears mentioning: A reference that points to null isn't the same as a C pointer that points to an invalid memory location. A null pointer is literally not pointing anywhere, which is subtly different than pointing to a location that happens to be invalid.)