Hibernate domain model

Question

When specifying one to many relationships in the domain model....is it better to initialize the set?

i.e.

private Set<Book> books = new HashSet<Book>();

OR

private Set<Book> books;

Thxs.

Answer 1

Initializing it in the first place prevents you from null checks all over the place, so my advice would be the first.

Answer 2

It doesn't matter from hibernate perspective. It basically question of basic java practice.