public static boolean equalsIgnoreNull(final Object obj1, final Object obj2) {
    return (obj1 == null ? obj2 == null : obj1.equals(obj2));
  }
Determines whether 2 Objects are equal in value by ignoring nulls. If both Object references
are null, then they are considered equal, or neither must be null and the Objects must be equal
in value as determined by their equals method.
<p>

@param obj1 the first Object in the equality comparison.
@param obj2 the second Object in the equality comparison.
@return a boolean value indicating whether the 2 Objects are equal in value. If both Object
        references are null, then they are considered equal.
@see java.lang.Object#equals(Object)
geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/internal/lang/ObjectUtils.java