returning a Void object

Question

What is the correct way to return a Void type, when it isn't a primitive? Eg. I currently use null as below.

interface B<E>{ E method(); }

class A implements B<Void>{

    public Void method(){
        // do something
        return null;
    }
}

Answer 1

The Void class is an uninstantiable placeholder class to hold a reference to the Class object representing the Java keyword void.

So any of the following would suffice:

• parameterizing with Object and returning new Object() or null
• parameterizing with Void and returning null
• parameterizing with a NullObject of yours

You can't make this method void, and anything else returns something. Since that something is ignored, you can return anything.

Answer 2

Java 8 has introduced a new class, Optional<T>, that can be used in such cases. To use it, you'd modify your code slightly as follows:

interface B<E>{ Optional<E> method(); }

class A implements B<Void>{

    public Optional<Void> method(){
        // do something
        return Optional.empty();
    }
}

This allows you to ensure that you always get a non-null return value from your method, even when there isn't anything to return. That's especially powerful when used in conjunction with tools that detect when null can or can't be returned, e.g. the Eclipse @NonNull and @Nullable annotations.