In Java, the **`java.lang.NullPointerException`** is thrown when a reference variable is accessed (or de-referenced) and is not pointing to any object. This error can be resolved by using a [*try-catch*](https://www.educative.io/edpresso/how-to-use-trycatch-statements-in-java) block or an `if-else` condition to check if a reference variable is `null` before dereferencing it.

In some cases, the compiler prevents this exception with the compile-time error "The variable might not have been initialized" when a `null` reference variable is passed as an argument of a method:

```java
String s;
foo(s);  // Compiler gives an error.
```

However, the compiler does not give this error when `null` is directly passed to a function; ​however​, there is a higher chance of it throwing a NullPointerException:

```java
foo(null);  // Higher probability of an exception
```

public class NullPointerExcept {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		String s = "abcd";

		foo(null);
		bar(null);
	}

	// Using a try-catch block:
	static void foo(String x){
		try {
			System.out.println("First character: " + x.charAt(0));
		}
		catch(NullPointerException e) {
			System.out.println("NullPointerException thrown!");
		}
	}

	// Using if-else condition:
	static void bar(String x){
		if(x != null)
			System.out.println("First character: " + x.charAt(0));
		else
			System.out.println("NullPointerException thrown!");
	}
}


How to resolve the java.lang.NullPointerException

Solution