Java 8 Optional. Why of and ofNullable?

Question

I have a question regarding Java 8\'s Optional, the purpose of which is to tackle NullPointerException exceptions.

The question is, what is the reason for h

Answer 1

Why would people opt for Optional instead of normal if-else method for null checking?

The main point of Optional class is to provide a mean for performing null safe mapping operations.

employeeOptional.map(Employee::getName).map(String::toUpperCase).ifPresent(upperCasedNameConsumer)

The expression above can replace a cascade of if-else statements in a single readable expression.

Optional.of provides an assertion for the given argument to be a null-null value, otherwise, you can opt for Optional.ofNullable if you are not sure about the input.

I strongly recommend you to read the javadoc for Optional class for more optional chaining methods that you can use for your advantage.