I have a data class like ```data class ProfileItem...

# getting-started

[Vitali Plagov]

I have a data class like

data class ProfileItem(val id: String, val item: Item)
data class Item (val code: String)

When I get a List<ProfileItem> from the 3rd service (can’t control it), the item field for some elements in the list might be null. And when I do

val eligibleCodes = service.gerProfileItems().filter { it.item.code in approvedCodes }

it fails with NPE, so I had to do filter { it.item != null } once I got the list. And IntelliJ complains about this filtering saying that this condition is always true.
Is it an issue with the IntelliJ IDEA’s inspection? Or I should do this operation differently?

[Jakub]

The item value should be optional Item? in your class if null is an expected value for the field. Idea is right to complain that your code is not saying it is nullable.

[Vitali Plagov]

Got it, updated. Thanks @Jakub

[Tobias Berger]

alternatively you could set up the serialization you use in the API calls to automatically convert nulls to empty lists if that's what you desire. Anyways, your application should always expect the same format that is actually provided. You shouldn't expect non-null values if null is expected, just like @Jakub pointed out.

[Stephan Schroeder]

and the way to remove nulls from a list is via `filterNotNull`:

val itemsOrNulls: List<ProfileItem?> = service.gerProfileItems()
val items: List<ProfileItem> = itemsOrNulls.filterNotNull()