Retrieve null array value

[Nikunj Sharda]

Hi,
find the below code

char[] eid = new char[20];
eid[0]='1';
eid[1] = '1';
eid[2]='3';
eid[3]='1';
eid[4]='1';

i have to check whether

for(int i=0;i<20;i++){
if(eid[i]==' '){ // here is the problem
throw new Exception();
}
}


the code is not going to if condition although after eid[5] is null.....what is the reason?

[Uli Hofstoetter]

Elements of char[] cannot be null.

Check out JLS, Section 4.12.1:
"A variable of a primitive type always holds a value of that exact primitive type."

So you start with an array full of zeros and then overwrite the first 5 elements, the rest is untouched.

Regards,
Uli

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Uli Hofstoetter wrote:
So you start with an array full of zeros and then overwrite the first 5 elements, the rest is untouched.

Correct. Nikunj Sharda, the point is that a new char[] isn't filled with "null" -- it's filled with 0 (not '0', but 0). So your test should be

if (eid[i] == 0) {

[Nikunj Sharda]

Ernest Friedman-Hill wrote:

Uli Hofstoetter wrote:
So you start with an array full of zeros and then overwrite the first 5 elements, the rest is untouched.

Correct. Nikunj Sharda, the point is that a new char[] isn't filled with &quot;null&quot; -- it's filled with 0 (not '0', but 0). So your test should be

if (eid[i] == 0) {

thanks...that's works but what happen if 0 already exists than that will not give result as expected

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

If you really need to be able to tell the difference between a character 0 and "no character", then you'll have to do something fancier. For example, you could use an array of java.lang.Character objects; such an array could include nulls. Or you could use two arrays: one char[] to hold the values, and one boolean[] to hold a "full/empty" flag. The second idea would actually use less memory, although it's less elegant.