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It's a pretty common mistake. For more information, default values (or lack thereof) are covered in the basic tutorials: Primitive Data Types (The Java™ Tutorials > Learning the Java Language >...

No, like I said, local variables do not have a default value, including null. If you want the default value to be null, you have to set it as such.



If that code works correctly, then you have...

I know. I'm telling you what the error message means. I actually don't think any of your code compiles.

Stick with your original code. The error is happening because local variables do not have a default value. So what should the method return if employeeList is empty?