To initialize or not initialize JPA relationship mappings?

Question

In one to many JPA associations is it considered a best practice to initialize relationships to empty collections? For example.

@Entity
public class Order {          


        

Answer 1

I would rather prefer an utility like this:

public static  void forEach(Collection values, Consumer consumer) {
  if (values != null) values.stream().forEach(consumer);
}

and use it in code like:

Utils.forEach(entity.getItems(), item -> {
    // deal with item
});