Java short circuit evaluation

Question

I thought Java had short circuit evaluation, yet this line is still throwing a null pointer exception:

if( (perfectAgent != null) && (perfectAgent.ge         


        

Answer 1

Advanced debugging lesson #1:

If you run into a seemingly impossible error (e.g. one that contradicts you knowledge about Java), do the following:

• Consult a reputable text book (or better still, the relevant standard) to confirm that your understanding is not flawed. (In this case your understanding was correct, and any half-decent textbook would confirm this in a minute.)

• Check all of the stupid things that you could have done that could cause the impossible error. Things like not saving a file, not doing a complete build, running an old / stale version of the application, being in the wrong directory, and so on.

In summary, learn to doubt yourself a bit more.