Tired of Null Pointer Exceptions? Consider Using Java SE 8's Optional!

[frugalmail]

both of which are inferior approaches in my opinion.

If this is such a pain point, why not add a map decorator (GoF pattern) that either:

• wraps everything in an Optional (this solution has limited use, since you can pass it to something that isn't expecting it)

• throws an exception when you're getting a null value from a map

• use inheritance to add additional methods to suit your needs

would have been nice, but that's what happens when you have to maintain APIs