java - Why do I get a NullPointerException when comparing a String with null?

Question

My code is breaking on the following line with a nullpointerexception:

 if (stringVariable.equals(null)){

Previous to this statement, I declare the stringVariable and set it to a database field.

In this statement, I am trying to detect if the field had a null value, but unfortunately it breaks!

Any thoughts?

Answer 1

Use

stringVariable == null

To test whether stringVariable is null.

The equals method (and every other method) requires stringVariable to not be null.