public static boolean isEmpty( CharSequence val ) {
    return val == null || val.length() == 0;
  }
@Test
  public void testIsEmptyStringBuffer() {
    assertTrue( Utils.isEmpty( (StringBuffer) null ) );
    assertTrue( Utils.isEmpty( new StringBuffer( "" ) ) );
    assertFalse( Utils.isEmpty( new StringBuffer( "test" ) ) );
  }