Which is faster, try catch or if-else in java (WRT performance)

Question

Which one is faster:

Either this

try {
  n.foo();
} 
catch(NullPointerException ex) {
}

or

if (n != null) n.foo();         


        

Answer 1

The if construct is faster. The condition can be easily translated to machine code (processor instructions).

The alternative (try-catch) requires creating a NullPointerException object.