Date: 2012oct24 Update: 2025oct1 Language: Java Keywords: break point Q. Java: Make a Java program (or app or servlet) crash A. Here's some code that does it nicely:

class Demo { public static final void main(String []args) { String crashy = null; if (crashy.equals("bang")) { // This de-references a null pointer return; } } }

Output:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "String.equals(Object)" because "<local1>" is null at Demo.main(crash.java:5)

This should also:

assert false : "Let's crash";

You might want to crash for debugging purposes.