Good way to get *any* value from a Java Set?

Question

Given a simple Set<T>, what is a good way (fast, few lines of code) to get any value from the Set?

With a List, it's easy:

List<T> things = ...; return things.get(0); 

But, with a Set, there is no .get(...) method because Sets are not ordered.

Answer 1

A Set<T> is an Iterable<T>, so iterating to the first element works:

Set<T> things = ...; return things.iterator().next(); 

Guava has a method to do this, though the above snippet is likely better.

Answer 2

Since streams are present, you can do it that way, too, but you have to use the class java.util.Optional. Optional is a wrapper-class for an element or explicitely no-element (avoiding the Nullpointer).

//returns an Optional. Optional <T> optT = set.stream().findAny();  //Optional.isPresent() yields false, if set was empty, avoiding NullpointerException if(optT.isPresent()){     //Optional.get() returns the actual element     return optT.get(); } 

Edit: As I use Optional quite often myself: There is a way for accessing the element or getting a default, in case it's not present:
optT.orElse(other) returns either the element or, if not present, other. other may be null, btw.