Optional.empty()
Returns an empty `Optional` — no value.
Available since: Java 8
Syntax
static <T> Optional<T> empty()Return value
Optional<T>An empty `Optional`.
Examples
Returning nothing found:
Optional<Integer> parsePositive(String s) {
int n = Integer.parseInt(s);
return n > 0 ? Optional.of(n) : Optional.empty();
}
void main() {
IO.println(parsePositive("42"));
IO.println(parsePositive("-5"));
}Output:
Optional[42]
Optional.emptyNotes
Return Optional.empty() instead of null from methods whose type is Optional. An empty Optional prints as Optional.empty.
See also
- Optional.of() — Creates an `Optional` holding a non-null value.
- Optional.isPresent() — Checks whether an `Optional` holds a value.
- Optional — A container that either holds a value or is empty — a replacement for returning `null`.
In the tutorial
- Optional — The Optional class in Java: a value that may be absent, creating it with of and empty, orElse, map, ifPresent and orElseThrow.