Difference between String.valueOf() and Object.toString()

According to the Java documentation, String.valueOf() returns:

if the argument is null, then a string equal to "null"; otherwise, the value of obj.toString() is returned.

So there shouldn't really be a difference except for an additional method invocation.

Also, in case of Object#toString, if the instance is null, a NullPointerException will be thrown, so, arguably, it's less safe.

If string is null,

String.valueOf(Object) will prints null whereas Object.toString() will throw null pointer exception.

public static void main(String args[]){  

    String str = null;


    System.out.println(String.valueOf(str));  // it will prints null        

    System.out.println(str.toString()); // it will throw NullPointer Exception        

}