optionals-js

OptionalJS 🎁

A robust and elegant Optional implementation for JavaScript, inspired by Java's Optional class. This package helps you handle null pointer exceptions gracefully and write more maintainable code by providing a container object that may or may not contain a non-null value.

Why OptionalJS? 🤔

The Null Pointer Exception Problem

JavaScript developers often encounter issues with null or undefined values:

// Dangerous code
const user = getUser(); // might be null
const address = user.address; // 💥 TypeError: Cannot read property 'address' of null
const city = address.city;

This leads to the infamous:

TypeError: Cannot read property 'x' of null

The Optional Solution

OptionalJS provides a safe way to handle potentially null values:

const user = Optional.ofNullable(getUser())
  .map(u => u.address)
  .map(a => a.city)
  .orElse("Unknown City");

Installation 📦

npm install optionals-js

Usage 💡

Basic Usage

const Optional = require('optionals-js');

// Creating Optionals
const present = Optional.of("hello");          // Contains non-null value
const nullable = Optional.ofNullable(null);    // Empty optional
const empty = Optional.empty();                // Empty optional

// Checking values
console.log(present.isPresent());  // true
console.log(nullable.isEmpty());   // true

// Safe access
const value = present.get();                   // Returns "hello"
const safe = nullable.orElse("default");       // Returns "default"

Chaining Operations

const result = Optional.ofNullable(user)
  .map(user => user.profile)
  .map(profile => profile.settings)
  .map(settings => settings.theme)
  .orElse("default-theme");

Conditional Operations

Optional.ofNullable(user)
  .filter(user => user.age >= 18)
  .ifPresent(user => console.log("Adult user:", user))
  .ifEmpty(() => console.log("No adult user found"));

Error Handling

try {
  const value = Optional.empty()
    .orElseThrow(() => new Error("Value required!"));
} catch (error) {
  console.log(error.message); // "Value required!"
}

Practical Examples

User Authentication

const getUsername = (user) => {
  return Optional.ofNullable(user)
    .map(u => u.profile)
    .map(p => p.username)
    .orElse("anonymous");
};

// Usage
const user = { 
  profile: { 
    username: "john_doe" 
  } 
};
console.log(getUsername(user));      // "john_doe"
console.log(getUsername(null));      // "anonymous"

Configuration Management

const getConfig = (path) => {
  return Optional.ofNullable(process.env)
    .map(env => env[path])
    .filter(value => value.length > 0)
    .orElseGet(() => loadDefaultConfig(path));
};

Form Validation

const validateEmail = (formData) => {
  return Optional.ofNullable(formData.email)
    .map(email => email.trim())
    .filter(email => email.includes("@"))
    .map(email => ({ isValid: true, email }))
    .orElse({ isValid: false, error: "Invalid email" });
};

API Reference 📚

Static Methods

Optional.of(value)

Creates an Optional with a non-null value. Throws if value is null/undefined.

const opt = Optional.of("hello");

Optional.ofNullable(value)

Creates an Optional that may contain a null value.

const opt = Optional.ofNullable(possiblyNullValue);

Optional.empty()

Creates an empty Optional.

const opt = Optional.empty();

Instance Methods

get()

const value = Optional.of("hello").get(); // "hello"

isPresent()

const hasValue = Optional.of("hello").isPresent(); // true

isEmpty()

const isEmpty = Optional.empty().isEmpty(); // true

ifPresent(consumer)

Optional.of("hello")
  .ifPresent(value => console.log(value));

ifEmpty(action)

Optional.empty()
  .ifEmpty(() => console.log("No value"));

map(mapper)

const mapped = Optional.of("hello")
  .map(str => str.toUpperCase()); // Optional containing "HELLO"

filter(predicate)

const filtered = Optional.of(5)
  .filter(num => num > 3); // Optional containing 5

orElse(other)

const value = Optional.empty()
  .orElse("default"); // "default"

orElseGet(supplier)

const value = Optional.empty()
  .orElseGet(() => computeDefault()); // Result of computeDefault()

orElseThrow(exceptionSupplier)

const value = Optional.empty()
  .orElseThrow(() => new Error("Required!")); // Throws Error

Comparison with Java Optional 🔄

OptionalJS is inspired by Java's Optional class but with some JavaScript-specific enhancements:

• More fluent API with method chaining
• Additional ifEmpty method for empty case handling
• JavaScript-specific null/undefined handling
• No checked exceptions
• More functional programming friendly

Best Practices 🌟

• Use Optional as a return type, not as a parameter type
• Don't overuse - Optional is for exceptional cases, not for all nullable values
• Chain operations when possible instead of nesting
• Use ifPresent/ifEmpty for side effects
• Prefer orElse/orElseGet over get()

Links 🔗

• GitHub Repository

• NPM Package

Contributing 🤝

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License 📄

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Credits 💝

Inspired by Java's Optional class and functional programming patterns.

Made with ❤️ by Abhijit Verma

optionalJS