Should I throw a NullPointerException explicitly or let Java do it for me?

Question

As the title says, I am wondering what the best practice is regarding the throwing of NullPointerExceptions. Specifically, if I have an external library function that can return

Answer 1

I have never used Java, but if I were using the application, I would want to see an error message than a crash. NullPointerException sounds like a bug in the code to me - I would rather see an error message with directions on how to properly configure the program, or at least a hyperlink to a web page that had such directions.

If I were a user and saw that a program had terminated with NullPointerException, I would file a bug against the program, or at least be confused as to what to do next.