To "null" or not to "null" my class's attributes
- by Helper Method
When I write a class in Java, I like to initialize the attributes which are set to a default value directly and attributes which are set by the caller in the constructor, something like this:
public class Stack<E> {
private List<E> list;
private size = 0;
public Stack(int initialCapacity) {
list = new ArrayList<E>(initialCapacity);
}
// remainder omitted
}
Now suppose I have a Tree class:
public class Tree<E> {
private Node<E> root = null;
// no constructor needed, remainder omitted
}
Shall I set the root attribute to null, to mark that it is set to null by default, or omit the null value?
