Close connection and statement finally

Question

Which is better for finally block:

finally {
        try {
            con.close();
            stat.close();
        } catch (SQLException sqlee) {
            sqlee.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

Or:

finally {
        try {
            if (con != null) {
                con.close();
            }
            if (stat != null) {
                stat.close();
            }
        } catch (SQLException sqlee) {
            sqlee.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

Answer 1

Better way to use is the 2nd one, because if an exception is thrown while initializing con or stat, they won't be initialized, and might be left initialized to null. In that case, using the 1st code will throw NullPointerException.

Also, if you are already on Java 7, you should consider using try-with-resources, which automatically closes the resources. From the linked tutorial:

The try-with-resources statement ensures that each resource is closed at the end of the statement. Any object that implements java.lang.AutoCloseable, which includes all objects which implement java.io.Closeable, can be used as a resource.