title: Bad to set socket to null instead of using ".close()" in Java
body: <p>The question says it all; is it better to use the ".close()" method instead of just setting the socket to null? But can't the ".close()" method throw an exception, at that time can I just set it to null?</p>
  
  <p>And once I close a socket, just safe measures set the socket to null after I call ".close()", can I reuse that same socket again with a different connection? Or do I need to recreate a whole new socket. </p>