OptionType

OptionType is a concept found in some programming languages, particularly functional programming languages like Haskell and Elm. It represents a value that may be present or absent. An OptionType is typically defined as a sum type with two possible cases: Some and None. The Some case wraps a value, indicating that a value is present, while the None case indicates the absence of a value. This pattern is used to explicitly handle situations where a computation might not return a result without resorting to null or undefined values, which can lead to runtime errors. By using OptionType, developers are forced to consider both the presence and absence of a value at compile time, making code safer and more predictable. Operations that might fail or produce no result can return an OptionType, and the calling code must then pattern match on the OptionType to determine whether to proceed with a value or handle the absence. This contrasts with languages that use null pointers, where the absence of a value is not explicitly checked until runtime, potentially causing exceptions. The use of OptionType promotes a more robust and declarative programming style.