Is it better to annotate Integer with @NonNull, or use primitive int?

Question

Say you have a method called 'setFloorNumber' that takes an integer that can't be null. Two different ways I figured you could do this:

public void setFloorNumber (@NonNull Integer floor){
   ...
}

or

public void setFloorNumber (int floor){
   ...
}

Best I can tell, they both accomplish the same thing which is requiring the integer parameter to not be null.

What are the pros and cons for these?

Is there a reason to want to choose one over the other, or are the differences negligible enough that it's purely just a stylistic choice?

Usually this is not something you need to handle. If someone incorrectly uses setFloorNumber() with a null Integer, just let a NullPointerException be thrown. Seems appropriate to me. — RaminS
– RaminS, Commented Jul 26, 2019 at 20:26
You should look into use cases for primitive int and Integer , since you should prefer int over Integer unless necessary, same goes for this scenario. — Zohaib Amir
– Zohaib Amir, Commented Jul 26, 2019 at 20:31
In general you should prefer int unless you have a really good reason to use Integer (such as storing numbers in a List or other container). One reason is to avoid unnecessary boxing and unboxing. — Code-Apprentice
– Code-Apprentice, Commented Jul 26, 2019 at 20:32

Richard Dapice · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-26 20:43:39Z

1

You are actually using two separate types.

If you use int than you cannot have a null value, it is a primitive type and it must be initialized to something, for instance int myNumber = 0; if you use an Integer, you are actually creating an Integer object. This is usually unnecessary and could be avoided.

answered Jul 26, 2019 at 20:43

Richard Dapice

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