Why is there a isNullOrEmpty for Array lt Int gt but not for

Question

Why is there a isNullOrEmpty for Array lt Int gt but not for IntArray in stdlib

Joffrey · Answer

I honestly don t know but the question IMO should be why is there this function at all Not sure how useful it can be Using a nullable collection usually implies that you care about the difference between null and empty so why use this function at all

nkiesel · Answer

This comes up often when dealing with Java APIs which are out of control

Joffrey · Answer

But then you just call the java API and use ` emptyList ` basically dealing with java issues at the java boundary It s good practice to get rid of platform types quickly so we might as well deal with null there

nkiesel · Answer

I get a Java class which has 3 such lists or arrays For most of them I can use `if j a isNullOrEmpty process j a ` without having to create empty collections But does not work for IntArray or BooleanArray

nkiesel · Answer

But really stdlib should be consistent This method exists for most collections but not for IntArray or BooleanArray And to these should per my understanding be just slightly more efficient implementations of Array lt Int gt or Array lt Boolean gt so I would expect the same set of convenience methods

Joffrey · Answer

Yes I agree with the consistency argument My point was that we should get rid of those entirely to make it consistent rather than add the missing ones

Joffrey · Answer

Now for your specific case if you really need those you can very easily write your own or just use `array == null || array isEmpty `

nkiesel · Answer

Of course I could and did work around this limitation

nkiesel · Answer

And of course removing established methods from stdlib is a very long winded and expensive process

ephemient · Answer

```array isEmpty = false```

nkiesel · Answer

Yeah used `array isEmpty == true` but still surprised by the inconsistency

ephemient · Answer

`== true` means `null` `false` which isn t what `isNullOrEmpty ` does

nkiesel · Answer

Right I just looked at my code and I actually do have = false Thanks

Joffrey · Answer

And that is why using `array == null` in a separate condition is probably better Shorter is not necessarily more readable

ephemient · Answer

I think ` = false` reads perfectly fine `== null ||` doesn t work for more complex expressions without binding a name specifically for it