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  1. JDK
  2. JDK-8174950

Gracefully handle null Supplier in Objects.requireNonNull

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    • core-libs
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    • b158

         - Objects.requireNonNull(T, Supplier) does not check for the Supplier
        argument being null. Instead it relies on the fact, that the VM will
        implicitly throw a NullPointerException when it calls .get on the
        Supplier argument during the creation of the explicit
        NullPointerException which it is supposed to throw.

        - this behavior slightly differs from Objects.requireNonNull(T,
        String) which simply creates a NullPointerException with a null
        message in the case where the String argument is null.

        - the difference is not evident in the OpenJDK, because the HotSpot VM
        creates a NPE with a null message by default if we call a method on a
        null object.

        - however creating such a NPE with a null message when invoking a
        method on a null object is not enforced by the standard, and other
        implementations can do better :) For the following trivial program:

        public class NonNull {
          public static void main(String[] args) {
            Supplier<String> ss = null;
            Object o = Objects.requireNonNull(null, ss);
          }
        }

        the current OpenJDK implementation returns:

        Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
            at java.util.Objects.requireNonNull(Objects.java:290)
            at NonNull.main(NonNull.java:8)

        but the SAP JVM will print:

        Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException: while
        trying to invoke the method java.util.function.Supplier.get() of a
        null object loaded from local variable 'messageSupplier'
            at java.util.Objects.requireNonNull(Objects.java:290)
            at NonNull.main(NonNull.java:8)

        which is at least confusing for a call to Objects.requireNonNul() with
        a null Supplier. We think the exception should be the same like the
        one we get when invoking Objects.requireNonNul() with a null String.

        - because of this difference (and because we like our extended
        Exception messages :) the JCK test for Objects.requireNonNul(T,
        Supplier) (i.e.
        api/java_util/Objects/index.html#RequireNonNullMessageSupplier) was
        removed from TCK 8 and is still commented out in TCK 9
        (npe_checkingNullSupplier() in RequireNonNullMessageSupplier.java).

        I really think that the simplest and most natural fix for this problem
        is to simply check for a null Supplier argument and create the NPE
        with an explicit null message in that case (as outlined in the
        webrev). This:
         - makes the two requireNonNul() overloads for String and Supplier
        behave the same (which I think was the initial intention).
         - doesn't require documentation changes
         - makes it possible to write a simple and conforming TCK test

              simonis Volker Simonis
              simonis Volker Simonis
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                Created:
                Updated:
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