try/catch vs null check in java

Question

Sometimes I face I must write a piece of code like this (usually it have more nested if and more complex structure but for the example is enought)

public voi         


        

Answer 1

If you migrate to Java 8 you can use Optional and Lambdas. First, you need to rewrite your classes to return Optional of each type:

class Object1 {
    private SubObject b;

    Optional getB() {
        return Optional.ofNullable(b);
    }
}

class SubObject {
    private SubObject2 c;

    Optional getC() {
        return Optional.ofNullable(c);
    }
}

class SubObject2 {
    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "to be printed";
    }
}

Now, you can chain the calls without the risk of NullPointerExceptions in a concise way:

a.getB()
    .flatMap(SubObject::getC)
    .ifPresent(System.out::println);

See the Oracle's article Tired of Null Pointer Exceptions? Consider Using Java SE 8's Optional! for more information.