Java 25 (LTS) reference · Optional

Java Optional.ofNullable() Method

Wrap a value that might be null in an Optional, making 'no value' explicit. Optional.of() rejects null.

Java 25 (LTS) Since Java 8

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Syntax

Optional.ofNullable(value)

Parameters

Parameter	Description
`value` T	A value or `null`.

Return value

An Optional<T>.

Examples

Present and empty

import java.util.*;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Optional<String> name = Optional.ofNullable(null);
        Optional<String> other = Optional.of("Ana");
        System.out.println(name.isPresent() + " " + other.isPresent());
        System.out.println(name + " " + other);
    }
}

Output

false true
Optional.empty Optional[Ana]

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Wrap a nullable lookup

import java.util.*;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Map<String, String> emails = Map.of("ana", "[email protected]");
        Optional<String> email = Optional.ofNullable(emails.get("ben"));
        System.out.println(email.orElse("no email on file"));
    }
}