On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 5:22 PM, clay <[email protected]> wrote:

> Why is there no flatMap?


Would you really be satisfied if Optional had flatMap, though?

Think about it carefully.

To me, the main benefit of flatMap is composability. With flatMap, I can
pass my Optional and other monadic values across a flow of transformations
without ever having to drop down to raw values.

And here is the rub: Optional would be the only type in the JDK that has
this property. It would be a bit like being the only person on the planet
with a fax machine. If all that I can do is composing Optionals with other
Optionals, the value is severely limited. Once/if Optional gains flatMap,
won't you want List to get it as well? And Map? And TreeSets?

You see where this is going...

-- 
Cédric

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