The 'best' way to check for args[n].

So this is a plain and simple question, what's the 'best' or most efficient way of checking if args[n] (such as args[0], args[1], etc.) exist without returning an NPE? You can't exactly do args[0].isEmpty() or .length() > 0 on it as, if it doesn't exist, it'll return null.

So really, my solutions have mostly been something like:

Code:java

if(args.length == 1)

OR

Code:java

try { (code) }
catch(NullPointerException npe) {
sender.sendMessage(ChatColor.RED + "Insufficient arguments provided!"); 

But, which is most efficient, and, are there better methods than this? Thanks for the help / input!

 

I've always just used args.length, when using a command executor that's the typical way most do.

 

If I need to use a lot of typical parameters (for example setting the variables values), I'm using loop:

Code:

if (args.length>0)
  for (int i = 0; i<args.lenght; i++) {
      if (args[i].startWith ("variable1=")){
//  setup the variable1, show message
      } else if (args[i].startswith ("variableN=")) {
      }....
  }

And you can call your command: /command parameter1=15 parameter2=off parametet3=15.25

 

I prefer not to use exceptions for things I already know. For example:

Code:java

 
if (args != null && args.length > 0) {
    doStuff();
} else {
    sender.sendMessage(String.format("%sInsufficient arguments provided!",
                                      ChatColor.RED));
}
 

The rule I use in Java is that Exceptions are for exceptional cases. If this one may frequently or commonly be null, just do the check.