Why does Java have a “NullPointerException” when there are no pointers in Java?

Question

Why do I get an exception called NullPointerException if in Java there is no such concept as a pointer?

Answer 1

There are no general purpose pointers in Java, that you can easily manipulate by adding and subtracting arbitrary values like in C. This can lead to all sorts of problems for those unused to them.

However, Java still needs to distinguish between an object and "no object". It's just the name of the exception that means you're trying to use an object reference that doesn't have a backing object behind it.

You could just as easily call it NoObjectException or DereferenceException, or one of a myriad of other names to minimise the possibility that people would think Java had general purpose pointers.

But NullPointerException is what the language creators opted for, probably because they were used to coding in C and/or C++.