Hi...I'm new to the boards (and Processing). Just a quick question to start my journey:

I built a function called init(). When called from setup(), it did what it was supposed to, but then gave a nullpointerexception (working with arrays at the time), and exited before proceeding to draw().  

For example, the following will NOT print out width and height:

Code:

void setup(){
  size(10,10);
  init();
}

void draw(){
}

void init(){
  println(width + "," + height);
} 

However, rename init() to something else, and it works. I'm assuming init() is a keyword, although I haven't found seen it in the processing references. I'm guessing it's a java keyword and may be used in libraries. Does that sound right?

Try to choose another name for init() --> initWhatEver()

You have a name collision. In  PApplet there's a hidden function also named init(), when you create your own init(), in fact you override PApplet.init(), and nothing is working anymore.

Try this;

Code:

void setup(){
  size(10,10); 
  initX();
}

void draw(){
}

void initX(){
  println(width + "," + height);
}