Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException

Hello all I need a little help here I am getting this error(Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException) on line 12 and not sure why, here is my code

Code:

---

import javax.swing.JOptionPane;

public class CoffeeDriver
{
        public static String names;
        public static double prices;

        public static void main (String[] args)
                {
                        Item [] names = new Item [5];
                        Item [] prices = new Item [5];
                        names[0].setName("Coffee");
                        names[1].setName("Water");
                        names[2].setName("Milk");
                        names[3].setName("Bagel");
                        names[4].setName("Donut");
                        prices[0].setPrice(1.00);
                        prices[1].setPrice(2.00);
                        prices[2].setPrice(1.50);
                        prices[3].setPrice(1.25);
                        prices[4].setPrice(0.75);




                        String Sort = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(null,"Would you like the menu items sorted by name or price? (n/p)", "Welcome to Wings Coffee Shop",1);

                        if (Sort == "n")
                                {
                                        sortName(names);
                                }       
else

        sortPrice(prices);



        }
public static void sortName( Item [] array)
{




}

public static void sortPrice (Item [] array)
{
int a, b;
Item temp;
int highSubscript = array.length -1;
for(a = 0; a < array.length; ++a)
        {
        for(b = 0; b < highSubscript; ++b)
                {
                if(array[b].getPrice() > array[b + 1].getPrice())
                        {
                                temp = array[b];
                                array[b] = array[b + 1];
                                array[b + 1] = temp;
                        }
                }
        }

}







}

---

I think I may have the solution.

You seem to initializing everything in your main method, which is something I suggest not doing.
Instead make an init() method to do all of that.

Code:

---

public void init(){
//Initialization
}

---

Also you create the object arrays outside of the methods like this:

Code:

---

public class example{
Item[] names;
Item[] prices;
//ect...

---

Then, inside of your init() initialize the objects:

Code:

---

public void init(){
names = new Item [5];
prices = new Item [5];

for(int i = 0; i < names.length; i++)
                names[i] = new Item();
       
for(int i = 0; i < prices.length; i++)
          prices[i] = new Item();

names[0].setName("Coffee");
names[1].setName("Water");
names[2].setName("Milk");
//ect...
}

---

This is my first time answering a question, but I'm fairly confident this should help.

Declaring the size of an object array doesn't automatically populate the array with objects of the declared Type.

db

Exactly as Darryl said .... were are u populating names ?. You will have to do something like this.

Code:

---

Item [] names = new Item [5];
Item item = new Item();       
item.setName("Coffee");
names[0] = item;

---

warm regards
Vinod M