Passing a null array to Arrays.asList() doesn't return null or throw Exception

Name: jb33418 Date: 11/12/98


/*
 * If you pass a null pointer to Arrays.asList(),
 * rather than return a null value, it returns a List
 * that fails at a later point when you call any of
 * the methods on it. This can be tricky to debug.
 *
 * I think it should return null (a list view of a
 * null array is a null value, right?) but it could
 * possibly throw an exception or create an array of
 * 0 elements. What it should not do is fail at a
 * later point.
 *
 */
import java.util.*;

public class ArrayFail {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        //Create a null array
        Object[] nullArray = null;
        
        //Pass it to Arrays.asList()
        List nullList = Arrays.asList(nullArray);
        
        //My expectation is that nullList should be null
        //But . . .
        System.out.println("Is the list null? " + (nullList == null));
        
        //And, accessing a method on it . . .
        int thisFails = nullList.size();
    }
}
(Review ID: 39130)
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