coding style - Gracefully avoiding NullPointerException in Java

Question

Consider this line:

if (object.getAttribute("someAttr").equals("true")) { // ....

Obviously this line is a potential bug, the attribute might be null and we will get a NullPointerException. So we need to refactor it to one of two choices:

First option:

if ("true".equals(object.getAttribute("someAttr"))) { // ....

Second option:

String attr = object.getAttribute("someAttr");
if (attr != null) {
    if (attr.equals("true")) { // ....

The first option is awkward to read but more concise, while the second one is clear in intent, but verbose.

Which option do you prefer in terms of readability?

Answer 1

I've always used

if ("true".equals(object.getAttribute("someAttr"))) { // ....

because although it is a little more difficult to read it's much less verbose and I think it's readable enough so you get used to it very easily