java string isblank null safe

StringUtils.isBlank() vs String.isEmpty()

stackoverflow.com › questions › 23419087 › stringutils-isblank-vs-string-isempty

StringUtils.isBlank() checks that each character of the string is a whitespace character (or that the string is empty or that it's null). This is totally different than just checking if the string is empty.

From the linked documentation:

Checks if a String is whitespace, empty ("") or null.

 StringUtils.isBlank(null)      = true
 StringUtils.isBlank("")        = true  
 StringUtils.isBlank(" ")       = true  
 StringUtils.isBlank("bob")     = false  
 StringUtils.isBlank("  bob  ") = false

For comparison StringUtils.isEmpty:

 StringUtils.isEmpty(null)      = true
 StringUtils.isEmpty("")        = true  
 StringUtils.isEmpty(" ")       = false  
 StringUtils.isEmpty("bob")     = false  
 StringUtils.isEmpty("  bob  ") = false

Warning: In java.lang.String.isBlank() and java.lang.String.isEmpty() work the same except they don't return true for null.

java.lang.String.isBlank() (since Java 11)

java.lang.String.isEmpty()

Answer from arshajii on Stack Overflow

Stack Overflow

stackoverflow.com › questions › 23419087 › stringutils-isblank-vs-string-isempty

java - StringUtils.isBlank() vs String.isEmpty() - Stack Overflow

Videos

02:01

YouTube

Safest way to validate a Java String (nulls, and blanks) 😌 - ...

January 4, 2024

04:47

YouTube

JAVA String Validation: NULL , EMPTY and BLANK - YouTube

isEmpty vs isBlank in #java string - YouTube

June 26, 2024

View all

Baeldung

baeldung.com › home › java › java string › checking for empty or blank strings in java

Checking for Empty or Blank Strings in Java | Baeldung

January 8, 2024 - If we use Maven, we need to add ... on: ... This call does the same as our own isBlankString method. It’s null-safe and also checks for whitespaces....

reddit.com › r/askprogramming › in java, should i use (string ) isempty() or isblank() when checking an xml object for an empty value?

r/AskProgramming on Reddit: In Java, should I use (String ) isEmpty() or isBlank() when checking an XML object for an empty value?

September 26, 2022 -

I have some config file and it is deployed in many regions. Some regions have certain requirements for example lets say one region needed a username and password (basic auth). The current setup is that each deployment has it's own config file and only the instances where it is needed are these values included in the respective config.xml file.

So I have in my Java code some logic that says

'if this element is in the XML, set the corresponding variable with its value, if not do nothing'

So when I'm trying to see if that value is present or if the tag is empty/blank, which String utility should I use to check?

example code (default option left open as empty string):

if (my_config.getString(USER_ID_ELEMENT, "") != null
    & my_config.getString(PASSWORD_ELEMENT, "") != null) {
		my_userId = m_config.getString(USER_ID_ELEMENT, "");
		my_password = m_config.getString(PASSWORD_ELEMENT, "");

Here I'm checking if it is not null, but I don't think it's a very good test since I don't know if an empty XML tag is blank or is empty (i think null isn't even an option)?

Top answer

1 of 2

What behavior do you want if the xml parser emits " " as the config value?

2 of 2

Blank and empty are not the same thing. Empty means "" and only "". Blank means "", " ", " ", and so on. Which you use depends on your use case, but usually its safest to go with isBlank combined with a null check.

GeeksforGeeks

geeksforgeeks.org › java › java-string-isblank-method

Java String isBlank() Method - GeeksforGeeks

July 23, 2025 - String at index 3 is blank (contains only whitespace). Example 3: This example shows how to use isBlank() with conditional logic to handle blank inputs in an application. ... // Java program to use isBlank() with conditional logic public class StringIsBlank { public static void main(String[] args) { // String with spaces String s = " "; // Check if the message is blank if (s.isBlank()) { System.out.println("The message is blank."); } else { System.out.println("Message: " + s); } } }

Sumo Logic

sumologic.com › log search › search query language › search operators › isnull, isempty, isblank

isNull, isEmpty, isBlank Search Operators | Sumo Logic Docs

Returns true if the string is null. Checks if the <string> value is an empty string containing no characters or whitespace.

Codemia

codemia.io › knowledge-hub › path › checking_if_a_string_is_empty_or_null_in_java

Checking if a string is empty or null in Java

Enhance your system design skills with over 120 practice problems, detailed solutions, and hands-on exercises

Find elsewhere

Google Bing Mojeek

Baeldung

baeldung.com › home › java › java string › difference between string isempty() and isblank()

Difference Between String isEmpty() and isBlank() | Baeldung

December 2, 2025 - Working with Strings in Java is sometimes confusing because we have many ways to do similar things. In this article, we’ll look at how to validate blank and empty Strings using the isEmpty() and isBlank() methods.

Tutorialspoint

tutorialspoint.com › home › java/lang › java string isblank method

Java String isBlank Method

September 1, 2008 - The given string is: TutorialsPoint The string length is: 14 The isBlank() method returns: false The string is not a blank string. If the given string value is a null, this method throws a NullPointerException.

Medium

medium.com › @AlexanderObregon › javas-string-isblank-method-explained-be7064a144a7

Java’s String.isBlank() Method Explained | Medium

January 10, 2025 - This often resulted in repetitive code that was harder to read and maintain. With isBlank(), these checks are more direct. Consider the traditional way of validating a string for meaningful content: if (input == null || input.trim().isEmpty()) { System.out.println("Invalid input"); }

Apache Commons

commons.apache.org › proper › commons-lang › apidocs › org › apache › commons › lang3 › StringUtils.html

StringUtils (Apache Commons Lang 3.20.0 API)

Operations on String that are null safe. IsEmpty/IsBlank - checks if a String contains text

Stack Abuse

stackabuse.com › java-check-if-string-is-null-empty-or-blank

Java: Check if String is Null, Empty or Blank

February 28, 2023 - One of the key differences between StingUtils and String methods is that all methods from the StringUtils class are null-safe. It additionally provides a few methods that we can leverage for this, including StringUtils.isEmpty() and StringUtils.isBlank(): String nullString = null; if (nullString ...

Educative

educative.io › answers › what-is-stringutilsisblank-in-java

What is StringUtils.isBlank in Java?

The method returns true because the string points to a null reference. ... The method returns true because the string contains only whitespace characters. ... System.out.printf("The output of StringUtils.isBlank() for the string - '%s' is %s", ...

CodeGym

codegym.cc › java blog › strings in java › java: check if string is null, empty or blank

Java: Check if String is Null, Empty or Blank

October 11, 2023 - The String = Is the String null? false Is the String empty? true The String = Lubaina Khan · “A “blank” String in Java is equal to a String with one or multiple spaces.” As mentioned before, a “blank” String is different from a scenario where a String is null or empty.

W3Schools

w3schools.com › java › ref_string_isempty.asp

Java String isEmpty() Method

This method returns true if the string is empty (length() is 0), and false if not. ... If you want to use W3Schools services as an educational institution, team or enterprise, send us an e-mail: sales@w3schools.com · If you want to report an ...

HowToDoInJava

howtodoinjava.com › home › java 11 › java string isblank() – check blank or empty string

Java String isBlank() - Check Blank or Empty String

December 12, 2022 - In other words, a String with only white space characters is blank but not empty. "ABC".isBlank() //false " ".isBlank() //true "ABC".isEmpty() //false " ".isEmpty() //false · Happy Learning !! ... A fun-loving family man, passionate about computers and problem-solving, with over 15 years of experience in Java and related technologies.

Programiz

programiz.com › java-programming › examples › string-empty-null

Java Program to Check if a String is Empty or Null

This is because white spaces are treated as characters in Java and the string with white spaces is a regular string. Now, if we want the program to consider strings with white spaces as empty strings, we can use the trim() method. The method removes all the white spaces present in a string. ...

TutorialsPoint

tutorialspoint.com › Checking-for-Null-or-Empty-in-Java

Checking for Null or Empty in Java.

July 30, 2019 - Following is an example of checking if a string is null or empty using the isEmpty() method: public class CheckString { public static void main(String[] args) { String input = ""; if (input.isEmpty()) { System.out.println("The string is empty."); } else { System.out.println("The string is not ...

Apache Commons

commons.apache.org › lang › apidocs › org › apache › commons › lang3 › StringUtils.html

StringUtils (Apache Commons Lang 3.17.0 API)

Operations on String that are null safe. IsEmpty/IsBlank - checks if a String contains text

JavaTute

javatute.com › home › stringutils isempty() and isblank() example in java

StringUtils isEmpty() and IsBlank() Example in Java - JavaTute

July 18, 2020 - Syntax – public static boolean isBlank(final CharSequence cs); It returns true if any string is null or the length of the string is zero string is whitespace. Let’s see an isBlank() Example in Java.