null pointers vs. Null Object Pattern
- by GlenH7
Attribution: This grew out of a related P.SE question
My background is in C / C++, but I have worked a fair amount in Java and am currently coding C#. Because of my C background, checking passed and returned pointers is second-hand, but I acknowledge it biases my point of view.
I recently saw mention of the Null Object Pattern where the idea is than an object is always returned. Normal case returns the expected, populated object and the error case returns empty object instead of a null pointer. The premise being that the calling function will always have some sort of object to access and therefore avoid null access memory violations.
So what are the pros / cons of a null check versus using the Null Object Pattern?
I can see cleaner calling code with the NOP, but I can also see where it would create hidden failures that don't otherwise get raised. I would rather have my application fail hard (aka an exception) while I'm developing it than have a silent mistake escape into the wild.
Can't the Null Object Pattern have similar problems as not performing a null check?
Many of the objects I have worked with hold objects or containers of their own. It seems like I would have to have a special case to guarantee all of the main object's containers had empty objects of their own. Seems like this could get ugly with multiple layers of nesting.
