How to avoid null checking in Java?

Question

I use object != null a lot to avoid NullPointerException.

Is there a good alternative to this?

For example I often use:

Answer 1

Null is not a 'problem'. It is an integral part of a complete modeling tool set. Software aims to model the complexity of the world and null bears its burden. Null indicates 'No data' or 'Unknown' in Java and the like. So it is appropriate to use nulls for these purposes. I don't prefer the 'Null object' pattern; I think it rise the 'who will guard the guardians' problem.
If you ask me what is the name of my girlfriend I'll tell you that I have no girlfriend. In the Java language I'll return null. An alternative would be to throw meaningful exception to indicate some problem that can't be (or don't want to be) solved right there and delegate it somewhere higher in the stack to retry or report data access error to the user.

1. For an 'unknown question' give 'unknown answer'. (Be null-safe where this is correct from business point of view) Checking arguments for null once inside a method before usage relieves multiple callers from checking them before a call.

   public Photo getPhotoOfThePerson(Person person) {
       if (person == null)
           return null;
       // Grabbing some resources or intensive calculation
       // using person object anyhow.
   }
   

   Previous leads to normal logic flow to get no photo of a non-existent girlfriend from my photo library.

   getPhotoOfThePerson(me.getGirlfriend())
   

   And it fits with new coming Java API (looking forward)

   getPhotoByName(me.getGirlfriend()?.getName())
   

   While it is rather 'normal business flow' not to find photo stored into the DB for some person, I used to use pairs like below for some other cases

   public static MyEnum parseMyEnum(String value); // throws IllegalArgumentException
   public static MyEnum parseMyEnumOrNull(String value);
   

   And don't loathe to type + + (generate javadoc in Eclipse) and write three additional words for you public API. This will be more than enough for all but those who don't read documentation.

   /**
    * @return photo or null
    */
   

   or

   /**
    * @return photo, never null
    */
   

2. This is rather theoretical case and in most cases you should prefer java null safe API (in case it will be released in another 10 years), but NullPointerException is subclass of an Exception. Thus it is a form of Throwable that indicates conditions that a reasonable application might want to catch (javadoc)! To use the first most advantage of exceptions and separate error-handling code from 'regular' code (according to creators of Java) it is appropriate, as for me, to catch NullPointerException.

   public Photo getGirlfriendPhoto() {
       try {
           return appContext.getPhotoDataSource().getPhotoByName(me.getGirlfriend().getName());
       } catch (NullPointerException e) {
           return null;
       }
   }
   

   Questions could arise:

   Q. What if getPhotoDataSource() returns null?
   A. It is up to business logic. If I fail to find a photo album I'll show you no photos. What if appContext is not initialized? This method's business logic puts up with this. If the same logic should be more strict then throwing an exception it is part of the business logic and explicit check for null should be used (case 3). The new Java Null-safe API fits better here to specify selectively what implies and what does not imply to be initialized to be fail-fast in case of programmer errors.

   Q. Redundant code could be executed and unnecessary resources could be grabbed.
   A. It could take place if getPhotoByName() would try to open a database connection, create PreparedStatement and use the person name as an SQL parameter at last. The approach for an unknown question gives an unknown answer (case 1) works here. Before grabbing resources the method should check parameters and return 'unknown' result if needed.

   Q. This approach has a performance penalty due to the try closure opening.
   A. Software should be easy to understand and modify firstly. Only after this, one could think about performance, and only if needed! and where needed! (source), and many others).

   PS. This approach will be as reasonable to use as the separate error-handling code from "regular" code principle is reasonable to use in some place. Consider the next example:

   public SomeValue calculateSomeValueUsingSophisticatedLogic(Predicate predicate) {
       try {
           Result1 result1 = performSomeCalculation(predicate);
           Result2 result2 = performSomeOtherCalculation(result1.getSomeProperty());
           Result3 result3 = performThirdCalculation(result2.getSomeProperty());
           Result4 result4 = performLastCalculation(result3.getSomeProperty());
           return result4.getSomeProperty();
       } catch (NullPointerException e) {
           return null;
       }
   }
   
   public SomeValue calculateSomeValueUsingSophisticatedLogic(Predicate predicate) {
       SomeValue result = null;
       if (predicate != null) {
           Result1 result1 = performSomeCalculation(predicate);
           if (result1 != null && result1.getSomeProperty() != null) {
               Result2 result2 = performSomeOtherCalculation(result1.getSomeProperty());
               if (result2 != null && result2.getSomeProperty() != null) {
                   Result3 result3 = performThirdCalculation(result2.getSomeProperty());
                   if (result3 != null && result3.getSomeProperty() != null) {
                       Result4 result4 = performLastCalculation(result3.getSomeProperty());
                       if (result4 != null) {
                           result = result4.getSomeProperty();
                       }
                   }
               }
           }
       }
       return result;
   }
   

   PPS. For those fast to downvote (and not so fast to read documentation) I would like to say that I've never caught a null-pointer exception (NPE) in my life. But this possibility was intentionally designed by the Java creators because NPE is a subclass of Exception. We have a precedent in Java history when ThreadDeath is an Error not because it is actually an application error, but solely because it was not intended to be caught! How much NPE fits to be an Error than ThreadDeath! But it is not.

3. Check for 'No data' only if business logic implies it.

   public void updatePersonPhoneNumber(Long personId, String phoneNumber) {
       if (personId == null)
           return;
       DataSource dataSource = appContext.getStuffDataSource();
       Person person = dataSource.getPersonById(personId);
       if (person != null) {
           person.setPhoneNumber(phoneNumber);
           dataSource.updatePerson(person);
       } else {
           Person = new Person(personId);
           person.setPhoneNumber(phoneNumber);
           dataSource.insertPerson(person);
       }
   }
   

   and

   public void updatePersonPhoneNumber(Long personId, String phoneNumber) {
       if (personId == null)
           return;
       DataSource dataSource = appContext.getStuffDataSource();
       Person person = dataSource.getPersonById(personId);
       if (person == null)
           throw new SomeReasonableUserException("What are you thinking about ???");
       person.setPhoneNumber(phoneNumber);
       dataSource.updatePerson(person);
   }
   

   If appContext or dataSource is not initialized unhandled runtime NullPointerException will kill current thread and will be processed by Thread.defaultUncaughtExceptionHandler (for you to define and use your favorite logger or other notification mechanizm). If not set, ThreadGroup#uncaughtException will print stacktrace to system err. One should monitor application error log and open Jira issue for each unhandled exception which in fact is application error. Programmer should fix bug somewhere in initialization stuff.