Use of Generics in ArrayList now mandatory?

Question

Hi,
I'm writing a little Applet involving the population of ArrayList (my Java compiler is version 1.6.0_22).
My code is similar to
ArrayList vertexPoints = new ArrayList();
- it compiles OK, but when I try and run the applet, it falls out saying that there is a NullPointerException in the above line. I was under the impression that the use of generics in ArrayLists is not compulsory? Or will I have to
change the code to something like
ArrayList<3DPoint> vertexPoints = new ArrayList<3DPoint>():
Some websites with tutorials give the impression that providing a type is optional, hence my confusion.

Answer 1

799615 wrote:
but accessing a method of an array of objects. I'll soldier on....Since you have not provided any more information we can only make educated guesses. Perhaps you are doing something like:
Foo[] fooList = new Foo[5];
fooList[0].doStuff(); // NullPointerExceptionWhy? The first line only creates an array. It does not automagically create any Foo objects for you. Therefore the array is full of the deafult value and for Objects (reference types) it is null. So effectively the second line is null.doStuff().