How to trace a NullPointerException in a chain of getters

Question

If I get a NullPointerException in a call like this:

someObject.getSomething().getSomethingElse().
    getAnotherThing().getYetAnotherObject().getValue();
         


        

Answer 1

Early failure is also an option.

Anywhere in your code that a null value can be returned, consider introducing a check for a null return value.

public Foo getSomething()
{
  Foo result;
  ...
  if (result == null) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("Something is missing");
  }
  return result;
}