exception thrown in isValid - hibernate validator

Question

When validating some configuration I'm loading from application.yml using custom validator like the following:

public class MyValidator implements ConstraintValidator<MyAnnotation, List<MyClass>> {

        @Override
        public void initialize(MyAnnotation myAnnotation) {
            //nothing to do
        }

        @Override
        public boolean isValid(List<MyClass> myList, ConstraintValidatorContext context) {
           // validation logic
        }
    }

if you validation logic triggers an exception, e.g in case of null pointing, I noticed that other possible validators do not kick in and an error message, that reads something like binding error, is displayed.

what's the best practice to avoid this situation ?

Answer 1

So the general best practice with Hibernate Validator's validators is that they should consider a null entry as valid.

If you check the ones we provide in Hibernate Validator, they all return true for a null entry. The idea is to explicitly use @NotNull when you want to check for null.

There are a few exceptions such as @NotBlank but this is the general best practice.

Obviously, as said above, your code needs to be correct and avoid NPE or other exceptions. But that goes without saying.