Use of array of zero length

Question

For example we can construct such an array like this:

 new ElementType[0];

I seen such a construct, but I don\'t understand why this might

Answer 1

it is a replacement for null since you don't need to check for null before use it. More formally it is a special case of special case design pattern (check also Null Object).

Another idiomatic use is collections toArray:

List list = new ... ;
// fill the list
String[] array = list.toArray(new String[0]);