When you want an array there are 2 stages to go through i.e.
Code:

// Declare an array called b but do not create it. at this
// moment b will have the value null
byte[] b;

// Now use b to create an array of 100 elements
// each element being 1 byte
b = new byte[100];
 

b will no longer be null because it references the array of 100 bytes.

Now we come to the crunch because it depends on what you meant by
Quote:


(1) We can loop through all 100 elements setting them to some value e.g. 0. The array would still exist.
(2) We can set the size of the array to 0 i.e.
Code:

b = new byte[0] 

the array reference will still exist but the array has no (zero) elements so is truly empty.
(3) We can simply set b to null i.e.
Code:

b = null; 

the array no longer exists.

In the last 2 cases attempting to use b is pointless except to create a new array.