This doesn't run in Netbeans when I use this. I get a Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException error.

It doesn't work because while using System.console() in any IDE (NetBeans, Eclipse, etc), the value of console is null hence the NullPointerException error. It will work fine in a terminal or a windows command prompt (I'm tempted to say because they return a Console Object) while IDEs implementation do not return a console object, but a null.

A simple test, you can run in your IDE to check whether console is null:

import java.io.Console;

/**
 * Demo Class
 */
public class Demo {
    /**
     * Starts program execution.
     *
     * @param args - command line arguments
     */
    public static void main(String[] args){
        Console console = System.console();

        if (console == null){
            System.out.println("CONSOLE is NULL!");
        }else{
            // do what you intended to do:-)
        }
    }
}

Here is a post on overcoming such issue in an IDE.

Hi Jared!

Both the console and system.out methods are valid ways to print to the console so it is really just preference as to which one you use. Now, let's see if we can figure out why you are experiencing errors with your code.

Do you mind pasting it here for me to take a look at?

-Luke