Should you always use Optional?

Overview. The method isNull is a static method of the Objects class in java that checks whether the input object reference supplied to it is null or not . If the passed object is null , then the method returns true . If the passed object is non-null , then the method returns false .

Optional is primarily intended for use as a method return type where there is a clear need to represent “no result,” and where using null is likely to cause errors. … You should almost never use it as a field of something or a method parameter.

The reason why Optionals are so useful is because with Optionals it forces you to represent your data in such a way that you can’t invoke a method from null . Without Optionals it’s not only possible, it’s extremely easy to. In other words, you avoid sloppy logic and stupid errors.

In a nutshell, the Optional class includes methods to explicitly deal with the cases where a value is present or absent. However, the advantage compared to null references is that the Optional class forces you to think about the case when the value is not present .