Programming Tips - Java: avoid clutter of many check for null when using HashMapString,String.

Date: 2012nov11 Language: Java Q. Java: avoid clutter of many check for null when using HashMap<String,String>. Can I avoid this? A. Here's a class that does the same as HashMap<String,String> but never returns a null.
class GentleMap extends HashMap<String,String> { GentleMap() { super(); } GentleMap(GentleMap in) { super(in); } @Override public String get(Object key) { String val = super.get(key); if (val == null) { val = ""; } return val; } }
Example use. BEFORE
HashMap<String,String> h; ... String val; if ((val = h.get("mykey")) == null) { // Do something }
AFTER
GentleMap h; ... String val = h.get("mykey");