Difference between null and empty (“”) Java String

Question

What is the difference between null and the \"\" (empty string)?

I have written some simple code:

String a = \"\";
String b         


        

Answer 1

In Java a reference type assigned null has no value at all. A string assigned "" has a value: an empty string, which is to say a string with no characters in it. When a variable is assigned null it means there is no underlying object of any kind, string or otherwise.