Question

Is there a good way to do away with null values in java like in ruby there is:

x = null || "string"

I want to do somthing like this.

String line = reader.readLine() || "";

To prevent null values being passed.

Answer 1

No, there is no null-safe syntax in Java. You should do it manually. Alternatively, you can create or use an utility like commons-lang:

String line = StringUtils.trimToEmpty(reader.readLine());

That way you’ll get either the value, or “” if it’s null