Why is it impossible to compare a String and null with equals? : <p>In the getter of my class the attribute may have null value from database :</p>

<pre><code>public String getCible() {
    return cible.equals(null) ? " - " : cible;
}
</code></pre>

<p>In my code I want to call this getter , but I got NullPointerException.</p>

<p>If I change the comparison to <code>return cible == null ? " - " : cible;</code> then everything is wright :) So why ?</p>
