Re: On null collections

[Martin Desruisseaux]

Hello all

Le 30/03/13 22:26, Mattmann, Chris A (388J) a écrit :

1. Ignore this subtle difference (Pro: simplest approach except for
    XML. Con: users may be puzzled about why he can not add elements in
    his modifiable metadata).
2. Return null (Pro: simplest approach including for XML, except that
    it requires more javadoc. Con: users who don't read javadoc may get
    NullPointerException).
3. Returns something that replicate Collections.emptyList() except for
    the more accurate exception message. (Pro: as 1 without the puzzling
    part).

I've never been a fan of returning a null list, mainly b/c I'm the guy that
usually does Method.getList().add(some new List element). ;)

That said, 1-3 are all feasible to me, so whichever one you pick I'm +1
for.

Thanks for the feedback. So I will try to go with option 3.

    Martin