I get a java.lang.NullPointerException if I call the getCipherSuite() method
of HttpsURLConnection before calling the connect() method.
It works fine if I call it after the connect() method.

Here is the code I used with a custom HTTPS server and a KeyStore that I
generated with keytool.
Running it with: java Bug 1, causes a java.lang.NullPointerException
Running it with: java Bug 2, works fine.

import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;
import java.security.*;
import com.sun.net.ssl.HttpsURLConnection;

public class Bug {
  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
    Security.addProvider(new com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.Provider());
    System.setProperty("javax.net.ssl.trustStore", "keystore");
    System.setProperty("java.protocol.handler.pkgs", "com.sun.net.ssl.internal.www.protocol");
    URL url = new URL("https", "localhost", 2001, "file");
    HttpsURLConnection connection = (HttpsURLConnection) url.openConnection();
    if (args.length == 1 && args[0].equals("1")) {
      System.out.println("Cipher Suite = " + connection.getCipherSuite());
    }
    connection.connect();
    if (args.length == 1 && args[0].equals("2")) {
      System.out.println("Cipher Suite = " + connection.getCipherSuite());
    }
  }
}