Backend>Questions

Java equals() selection

sona11

sona11

Java equals() selection

In Java, if I try to do.equals() on a null string, a null pointer error is issued. I’m wondering whether I can perform the following if I’m attempting to compare if a string is equal to a constant string:
MY CONSTANT STRING.equals(aStringVariable)
I’m sure it’ll work, but is this simply extremely bad code?
This is a common Java idiom known colloquially as a Yoda condition. Personally, I prefer to handle the null situation directly, but the Yoda method is widely used, and any competent Java programmer should quickly grasp what is going on. How should I proceed?

3 comments
/java
4 1150 3

Most Liked

faust

faust

I think that it is important to discuss with your team how the majority feels about this kind of situation and create a guideline for the project.

Anyway, I personally prefer to use Enums instead of this kind of constant.

1
Post #3
finner

finner

Hi @sona11,
If you are using Java8 (or ablove) you can use Optional - for example:

boolean eq = Optional.ofNullable(aStringVariable)
            .map(s -> s.equals(MY_CONSTANT_STRING))
            .orElse(false);

And when the aStringValue is null there will no NullPointerException

I hope I understood the question correctly, does that help?

1
Post #4
sona11

sona11

Thanks you and yes it does help.

1
Post #5

Where Next?

View thread on forum
java
Home Backend>Questions
/java
4 1150 3
Last post

Popular Backend topics Top

brennan
Backend>Questions

When should you use Phoenix LiveView over Phoenix Channels?
When should you use Phoenix LiveView over Phoenix Channels?
/elixir/phoenix#liveview
8 1356 2
New
mrmurphy
Backend>Questions

How exactly does phx-update detect changes?
I’ve run into a situation where I’ve got a list of posts inside of a container that uses phx-update=“prepend”, and the posts on the socke...
/elixir
16 1233 6
New
gagan7995
Backend>Questions

Please tell me how to write a query for this in nodejs
API 4 Path: /user/following/ Method: GET Description: Returns the list of all names of people whom the user follows Response [ { ...
/nodejs
7 3447 3
New
s2k
Backend>Questions

An ERB/bundler behaviour I don't understand
I have this code in a file that’s used to … render templates. require 'erb' require 'ostruct' MISSING_CONFIG_MARKER = :config_key_and_v...
/ruby
11 1405 4
New
JimmyCarterSon
Backend>Questions

Ecto issue, not sure how to do this?
Hello, I am. very new to Elixir lang I have only been doing it for about 2 weeks. I recently started following this tutorial todo list, ...
/elixir/phoenix#beginner#ecto
12 2311 3
New
Fl4m3Ph03n1x
Backend>Questions

How to have custom enconding for struct using Jason?
Background I am trying to encode a structure into json format using the Jason library. However, this is not working as expected. Code L...
/elixir#json
6 2879 1
New
JimmyCarterSon
Backend>Questions

Seed Data with Elixir
Hello, I am working on a new application with Elixir, Dish_out. I want to see Data I follow this tutorial with Elixir Casts. However, I ...
/elixir/phoenix/seed#ecto#trouble-shooting
17 2340 6
New
Fl4m3Ph03n1x
Backend>Questions

Gradient does not recognize type of TypedStruct structures
Background I have a module that uses TypedStruct to create structs. This is the code: defmodule Shared.Data.Authorization do @moduledo...
/elixir#gradient#struct
6 1064 2
New
KnowledgeIsPower
Backend>Questions

Do your company uses microservices?
Is it monolithic or using micro-services?
#backend
5 776 3
New
pillaiindu
Backend>Questions

What is the difference between using `:references` and `:belongs_to` in a generate command in Rails?
What is the difference between using :references and :belongs_to in the following command? bin/rails generate scaffold LineItem product:...
/ruby/rails
5 824 2
New

Other popular topics Top

DevotionGeo
Backend>Chat

Would you use Erlang now when there is Elixir?
Why, if your answer is yes?
/elixir/erlang
167 4955 52
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Backend>Learning Resources

Programming Phoenix LiveView
Build highly interactive applications without ever leaving Elixir, the way the experts do. Let LiveView take care of performance, scalabi...
pragprog.com
#pragprog/elixir/phoenix#published-book/book-programming-phoenix-liveview
80 11925 26
New
Margaret
General Dev>Dev Chat

PragProg’s Medium Posts
Hello everyone! This thread is to tell you about what authors from The Pragmatic Bookshelf are writing on Medium.
#pragprog#blog-post
1147 29994 760
New
rustkas
Backend>Chat

Using Regular Expressions in Erlang
Intensively researching Erlang books and additional resources on it, I have found that the topic of using Regular Expressions is either c...
/erlang#regular-expressions
91 5662 43
New
AstonJ
Frontend>Chat

Online Hand to eye coordination test
Was just curious to see if any were around, found this one: I got 51/100: Not sure if it was meant to buy I am sure at times the b...
#online-tools
4 4562 1
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Community>In The Spotlight

Spotlight: Erin Dees (Author) Interview and AMA!
Author Spotlight Erin Dees @undees Welcome to our new author spotlight! We had the pleasure of chatting with Erin Dees, co-author of ...
#author-spotlight/ruby/rails/book-effective-testing-with-rspec-3/book-seven-more-languages-in-seven-weeks/book-cucumber-recipes#rspec
24 4247 11
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Community>In The Spotlight

Spotlight: Bruce Tate (Author) Interview and AMA!
Author Spotlight: Bruce Tate @redrapids Programming languages always emerge out of need, and if that’s not always true, they’re defin...
/elixir/ruby/phoenix/book-seven-more-languages-in-seven-weeks/book-seven-languages-in-seven-weeks#liveview/book-programming-phoenix-liveview
54 5678 23
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Backend>Learning Resources

Engineering Elixir Applications
Develop, deploy, and debug BEAM applications using BEAMOps: a new paradigm that focuses on scalability, fault tolerance, and owning each ...
pragprog.com
#pragprog/elixir#published-book/book-engineering-elixir-applications
40 7136 21
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Backend>Learning Resources

Agile Web Development with Rails 8
Get the comprehensive, insider information you need for Rails 8 with the new edition of this award-winning classic. Sam Ruby @rubys ...
pragprog.com
#pragprog#web-development/ruby/rails#published-book/book-agile-web-development-with-rails-8
12 7404 7
New
AstonJ
AI>In The News

DeepSeek (671B) running on a cluster of 8 Mac Mini Pros with 64GB RAM each
This is cool! DEEPSEEK-V3 ON M4 MAC: BLAZING FAST INFERENCE ON APPLE SILICON We just witnessed something incredible: the largest open-s...
#ai#macs/deepseek
0 6695 1
New
Back to top

Sponsor Spotlight

Manning

Develop your skills with books, videos, and courses.

Latest in Java

Java Portal ❯

Backend>Questions

Backend Questions ❯

Latest on Devtalk

Devtalk ❯

We ❤️ helpful members!

We reward our most helpful members via our MOTM scheme - by giving away a whopping 25 books per year!

Member of the Month

Devtalk Sponsors

Pragmatic Bookshelf

Practical resources that improve the lives of professional developers.

Erlang Solutions

We build trusted fault-tolerant systems that scale to billions of users.

Honeybadger

Real-time error tracking, performance insights, and observability for devs.

EEF

Supporting innovation across the BEAM ecosystem.

coders51

We build reliable cloud platforms for business-critical systems.

Manning Publications

Develop your skills with books, videos, and courses.

AppSignal

Catch errors, track performance, monitor hosts and more.

WyeWorks

Enabling companies to succeed by building software people love.

Pragmatic Studio

Courses that move you from confusion to "Aha, now I get it!"

Linux New Media

Publishing Linux Magazine, ADMIN, and MakerSpace for 25+ years.

View all our sponsors ❯

Categories:

Sub Categories:

Popular Portals

Devtalk Sponsors

Pragmatic Bookshelf

Practical resources that improve the lives of professional developers.

Erlang Solutions

We build trusted fault-tolerant systems that scale to billions of users.

Honeybadger

Real-time error tracking, performance insights, and observability for devs.

EEF

Supporting innovation across the BEAM ecosystem.

coders51

We build reliable cloud platforms for business-critical systems.

Manning Publications

Develop your skills with books, videos, and courses.

AppSignal

Catch errors, track performance, monitor hosts and more.

WyeWorks

Enabling companies to succeed by building software people love.

Pragmatic Studio

Courses that move you from confusion to "Aha, now I get it!"

Linux New Media

Publishing Linux Magazine, ADMIN, and MakerSpace for 25+ years.

View all our sponsors ❯

We're in Beta

About us Mission Statement See our Roadmap