What is the purpose of the Optional class?

The Optional class in Java is used to explicitly represent a value that may be present or absent (null). It helps to avoid NullPointerException errors and makes the code more readable and safe.

Optional allows:

• Explicitly indicate that a value may be missing.
• Use convenient methods to handle missing values (e.g., orElse, ifPresent).
• Avoid direct null checks.

Example of usage:

Optional<String> name = Optional.ofNullable(getUserName());

name.ifPresent(n -> System.out.println("User name: " + n));

String defaultName = name.orElse("Guest");

Here, getUserName() may return null, but Optional helps to work safely with this value.