Question

I am wondering if there is a special method/trick to check if a String object is null. I know about the String.IsNullOrEmpty method but I want to differentiate a null String from an empty String (="").

Should I simply use:

if (s == null) {
    // blah blah...
}

…or is there another way?

Answer 1

An object can’t be null – the value of an expression can be null. It’s worth making the difference clear in your mind. The value of s isn’t an object – it’s a reference, which is either null or refers to an object.

And yes, you should just use

if (s == null)

Note that this will still use the overloaded == operator defined in string, but that will do the right thing.