I have a function that returns a live data such as ```fun getLiveData(): LiveData<Result?> { r...

# android

[Jon]

I have a function that returns a live data such as

fun getLiveData(): LiveData<Result?> { return mResult }

where mResult is just a simple POJO. I am confused a bit about how kotlin interprets the return type for this function. I would imagine this to be non-null but when I try to call it, it forces me to use the null-safe operator "?.". If I wanted this to be nullable, I would imagine the return type would be

LiveData<Result?>?

with the appended "?"

[Christiano]

From what I know, LiveData is made in Java, and is nullable by default or something like that.

To provide you with more detailed information please check both:
• https://chao2zhang.medium.com/livedata-nullability-99ef4e01bc54
• https://medium.com/google-developer-experts/when-livedata-and-kotlin-dont-play-hand-in-hand-30149aa794ec

[Jon]

Thanks @Christiano

[Jon]

One thing that is interesting is that mResult in my example is always initialized to MutableLiveData() when my app starts. It is never set to null. However, I am getting reports of crashes that indicate getLiveData() is actually returning null.

[Zun]

What’s the exact exception you get?