Search code examples
scalascala-option

When should I use Option.empty[A] and when should I use None in Scala?

In Scala, when I want to set something to None, I have a couple of choices: using None or Option.empty[A].

Should I just pick one and use it consistently, or are there times when I should be using one over the other?

Example:

scala> def f(str: Option[String]) = str
f: (str: Option[String])Option[String]

scala> f(None)
res0: Option[String] = None

scala> f(Option.empty)
res1: Option[String] = None
Solution

  • I would stick to None whenever possible, which is almost always. It is shorter and widely used. Option.empty allows you to specify the type of underlying value, so use it when you need to help type inference. If the type is already known for the compiler None would work as expected, however while defining new variable

    var a = None

    would cause infering a as None.type which is unlikely what you wanted.

    You can then use one of the couple ways to help infer what you need

    @ var a = Option.empty[String]
a: Option[String] = None
@ var a: Option[String] = None
a: Option[String] = None
@ var a = None: Option[String] // this one is rather uncommon
a: Option[String] = None

    Another place when compiler would need help:

    List(1, 2, 3).foldLeft(Option.empty[String])((a, e) => a.map(s => s + e.toString))

    (Code makes no sense but just as an example) If you were to omit the type, or replace it with None the type of accumulator would be infered to Option[Nothing] and None.type respectively.

    And for me personally this is the place I would go with Option.empty, for other cases I stick with None whenever possible.