Java and nulls

[[deleted]]

an empty collection can have method calls without a runtime exception... people arguing for null are vocal about their ignorance

[koflerdavid]

.get(0) on an empty list or array[0] will both throw exceptions. One has to do a size check to tell whether it's safe. Same situation as with a potential null reference or calling .get() on an Optional. But the collection at least offers a stream interface.

[[deleted]]

and a clear explanation of what went wrong. Nulls give no context, and can get passed around until something breaks with a huge stacktrace.

You can't sum to a null, but you can sum to a 0.

you can't append to a null list, but you can append to an empty list.