Your problem is not that your value is null, the problem is that your object is not initialized at all. For example:

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
	        List<int> empty;

	        if (empty != null)
	        {
				Console.WriteLine("no");
	        }
        }

**Will not compile**, because `empty` has no value. If I change the code to:

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
	        List<int> empty = null;

	        if (empty != null)
	        {
				Console.WriteLine("no");
	        }
        }

It'll work, because my list now has a value, it's null, but it still exists.

EDIT: Sorry I used C# instead of VB, that's because that editor I have handy, but the code is correct. 
You initialize your variables every time and you'll not gonna get the error.

In the following code, if `cmd` has been initialized, then I'll make to sure to close any open connections before throwing an exception. However, even after I check that `cmd` is not null, I still get a possible null reference warning in subsequent lines of code.



    Dim cmd As SqlCommand
    Try
        'Do some Stuff
    Catch ex As Exception
        If cmd IsNot Nothing AndAlso
           cmd.Connection IsNot Nothing AndAlso              '<- null cmd warning 
           cmd.Connection.State = ConnectionState.Open Then  '<- null cmd warning 
            cmd.Connection.Close()                           '<- null cmd warning 
        End If
        Throw
    End Try

I get the two following warnings (possibly one from Resharper & one from Visual Studio):

> * Variable 'x' might not be initialized before accessing.  A null reference exception could occur at runtime.
> * BC42104: Variable 'x' is used before it has been assigned a value. A null reference exception could result at runtime.

According to the [Visual Studio Page][BC42104]:

>An application has at least one possible path through its code that reads a variable before any value is assigned to it.

But I don't think there is even one possible path through the code where the variable would be used without being initialized.

* Have I made some error or is this a bug?
* Is there a way to disable this warning from coming up?

Here's a screenshot:

![screenshot][screenshot]


This is different from many similar questions already asked here, like [Prevent Resharper “Possible Null Reference Exception” warnings][Prevent Resharper] because I'm not trying to allow for a NullableType, but instead have already guaranteed that my variable is not null.

-----

## Update:

Follow up question: Why?

Whether my object is never initialized or initialized to `Nothing`, in both cases `cmd IsNot Nothing` should resolve to `False`, so anything after the `AndAlso` should never be executed. 



    Dim cmd1 As SqlCommand
    Console.Write(cmd1 IsNot Nothing) 'False

    Dim cmd2 As SqlCommand = Nothing
    Console.Write(cmd2 IsNot Nothing) 'False

Maybe the compiler just doesn't have a good way of guaranteeing this at compile time.

[BC42104]: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/3fdk625a.aspx
[Prevent Resharper]: https://stackoverflow.com/q/5172674/1366033

[screenshot]: http://i.imgur.com/fLZPwdb.png