From 3ce4f8dfa274defd44de74f05b3a86d872a2076a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Liana Bakradze <liana.bakradze@jetbrains.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2016 14:16:33 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] fix NPE

---
 .../com/jetbrains/edu/learning/StudySerializationUtils.java  | 5 ++---
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/python/educational-core/student/src/com/jetbrains/edu/learning/StudySerializationUtils.java b/python/educational-core/student/src/com/jetbrains/edu/learning/StudySerializationUtils.java
index 805df68d4eb0..d0cd98e3c28c 100644
--- a/python/educational-core/student/src/com/jetbrains/edu/learning/StudySerializationUtils.java
+++ b/python/educational-core/student/src/com/jetbrains/edu/learning/StudySerializationUtils.java
@@ -406,10 +406,9 @@ public class StudySerializationUtils {
           final JsonArray hintsArray = new JsonArray();
 
           try {
-            final Type listType = new TypeToken<List<String>>() {
-            }.getType();
+            final Type listType = new TypeToken<List<String>>() {}.getType();
             final List<String> hints = gson.fromJson(hintString, listType);
-            if (!hints.isEmpty()) {
+            if (hints != null && !hints.isEmpty()) {
               for (int i = 0; i < hints.size(); i++) {
                 if (i == 0) {
                   placeholderObject.addProperty(HINT, hints.get(0));