Need a little help with this code...

So I finally finished compiling my code and it has no errors; however, once I run it it crashes with this error:

java.lang.NullPointerException
at CanadianGeography.main(CanadianGeography.java:23)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source)
at edu.rice.cs.drjava.model.compiler.JavacCompiler.runCommand(JavacCompiler.java:271)

This is the code for the program:

Code:

---

import java.awt.*;
import hsa.Console;

public class CanadianGeography
{
  static Console c; //output console
  public static void main (String [] args)
  {
    new Console ();
   
    double finalscore, right, wrong;
    int score;
    String prov, cap;
/*include x as an empty spot so index starts at 1*/
    String [] provanswers = {"x", "Alberta", "Saskatchewan", "Manitoba", "Ontario", "Quebec", "Newfoundland an Labrador", "New Brunswick", "Prince Edward Island", "Nova Scotia"};
    String [] capanswers = {"x", "Edmonton", "Regina", "Winnipeg","Ottawa", "Quebec City","St.John's", "Fredericton", "Charlottetown", "Halifax"};

    score = 0;
   
/*prompt user and check answer*/ 
    c.println ("What is the province farthest to the west?");
    prov = c.readString ();
    c.println ("What is the name of the capital there?");
    cap = c.readString ();
 
    if (prov == "British Colombia" & cap == "Victoria")
    {
      score = score + 1; //incriment the score if the answer is right
    }
    else
    {
    score = score + 0;//add zero to the score if the question is wrong
    }
       
/*loop questions for the other provinces*/
    for (int i= 1; i < 11; i++)
    {
    c.println ("What is the next province east to it?");
    prov = c.readString ();
    c.println ("What is the name of the capital there?");
    cap = c.readString ();
   
/*check answer for province and capital*/
    if (prov == provanswers [i] && cap == capanswers [i])
    {
    score = score + 1;
    }
    else
    {
    score = score + 0;//add zero to the score if the question is wrong
    } 
   
  }//end of loop
   
/*tabulate score*/
    wrong = 20 - score;
    right = score - wrong;
    finalscore = score/20;
   
    c.println ("You got" + wrong + "wrong, and " + right + "right out of 20.");
   
    if (score <= 0.50)
    {
      c.println ("Not enough to pass. Try again.");
    }
    else if (score >= 0.90)
    {
      c.println ("You are the most brilliant person in the world");
    }
    else if (score >50 && score <90)
    {
      c.println ("Good");
    }
   
   
  }//end of main method
}//end of class

---

I looked at line 23, but I don't understand what the error is or how to fix it. Can someone help?

Outside main, you define static Console c ... inside main you create a new Console(), then call methods like readString() on c which has not been initialized.
Better to define console c = new Console() inside main and remove the static definition from the class - since c is not referenced outside main.
Your string comparisons won't work because you can't use == with Strings ... and you need a double ampersand for the logical "and" ... i.e.

Code:

---

    if (prov.equals("British Colombia") && cap.equals("Victoria"))
    {
      score = score + 1; //incriment the score if the answer is right

---

Your loop will throw an exception too because you are looping from 1 to 10 - but the arrays are zero based so your index should be 0 to 9.
I see you have placed a dummy entry (x) in each array to try to make them 1 based - it's probably better to remove the x and start from zero (i.e. try to think like the computer rather than like a human!). Also use the array ".length" to control the loop - then you are less likely to go beyond the bounds of the array ... i.e.

Code:

---

    String [] provanswers = {"Alberta", "Saskatchewan", "Manitoba", "Ontario",
                            "Quebec", "Newfoundland an Labrador", "New Brunswick",
                            "Prince Edward Island", "Nova Scotia"};
    String [] capanswers = {"Edmonton", "Regina", "Winnipeg","Ottawa",
                            "Quebec City","St.John's", "Fredericton", "Charlottetown",
                            "Halifax"};

    ... other stuff omitted ...

/*loop questions for the other provinces*/
    for (int i = 0; 0 < provanswers.length; i++)
    {

---