Question

public class Main
{
   public static void main(String []ar)
   {
      A m = new A();
      System.out.println(m.getNull().getValue());
   }
}

class A
{
   A getNull()
   {
      return null;
   }

   static int getValue()
   {
      return 1;
   }
}

I came across this question in an SCJP book. The code prints out 1 instead of an NPE as would be expected. Could somebody please explain the reason for the same?

Answer 1

It behaves as it should according to the Java Language Specification:

a null reference may be used to access a class (static) variable without causing an exception.