Java Coding Problems

236. Do not use Optional for fields

The do not use category continues with the following statement—Optional was not intended to be used for fields and it doesn't implement Serializable.

The Optional class is definitively not intended to be used as a field of a JavaBean. So, do not do this:

// Avoidpublic class Book {  [access_modifier][static][final]    Optional<String> title;  [access_modifier][static][final]    Optional<String> subtitle = Optional.empty();  ...}

But do this:

// Preferpublic class Book {  [access_modifier][static][final] String title;  [access_modifier][static][final] String subtitle = "";  ...}