public static NodePointer parse(String pointer) {
        return pointer.isEmpty() ? empty() : new NodePointer(pointer, parseJsonPointer(pointer));
    }
Parses a JSON pointer.

<p>A JSON pointer that starts with "#/" is treated as "/". JSON
pointers must start with "#/" or "/" to be parsed correctly.

@param pointer JSON pointer to parse.
@return Returns the parsed pointer.
@throws IllegalArgumentException if the pointer does not start with slash (/).
smithy-model/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/model/node/NodePointer.java