Java 7 Feature: Asserting Non-Null Objects

Starting with JDK 7, you can assert non-null objects with two java.util.Objects methods:

• <T> T nonNull(T obj): This method checks that the specified object reference is not null. It returns obj if the reference is not null, or NullPointerException otherwise.
• <T> T nonNull(T obj, String message): This method checks that the specified object reference is not null and throws a customized NullPointerException if it is. It returns obj, the object reference to check for nullity, or message, a detailed message to be used in the event that a NullPointerException is thrown.

Here is an example of the two java.util.Objects methods:

package jdk7_nonnull;

import java.util.Objects;

public class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        //create a null String object
        String nullString = null;
        //create a non-null String object
        String nonNullString = "Java 7 Rocks!";

        //returns nonNullString
        String c_nonNullString = Objects.nonNull(nonNullString);
        System.out.println(c_nonNullString);
        
        //throw a NullPointerException
        String c_nullString_1 = Objects.nonNull(nullString);

        //throw a customize NullPointerException
        String c_nullString_2 = Objects.nonNull(nullString, "This String is null!");       
    }
}

Here's the output:

Java 7 Rocks!
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
        at java.util.Objects.nonNull(Objects.java:201)
        at jdk7_nonnull.Main.main(Main.java:30)
Java Result: 1