The design with return Optional is ugly

[artemptushkin]

Hey, I know it's a Java library but I'd like open a thread that this one is quite ugly for Kotlin (and tbh, would be for me if I write Java too) because of so many return Optional in the API responses, e.g.

public abstract class EditImageResponse extends JsonSerializable {
  /** Used to retain the full HTTP response. */
  @JsonProperty("sdkHttpResponse")
  public abstract Optional<HttpResponse> sdkHttpResponse();

  /** Generated images. */
  @JsonProperty("generatedImages")
  public abstract Optional<List<GeneratedImage>> generatedImages();
...

In Kotlin (and Java it would be something similar) I end up writing:

return r.generatedImages().get().first().image().get().let { ... }

I find it quite ugly in 2025 and not trustworthy. Every time writing code like this it makes me think: "what if it's null". But sometimes it's never a null.

It's clearly for the SDK API that you put all of the fields as nullable but I have high doubts that in the API contract itself all are the fields can be nullable, i.e. optional. It's never like this, most probably we can expect some values as nulls or at least empty lists but not null.

Another point that is not a typical API design, other SDKs ~API wrappers do not have optionals usually. There are alternatives (annotations) to hightlight that a field can be optional but it must be confirmed by the actual API design.

The concern here is that this is a new library, another new library and from the begging we have inconinient.

---

• https://www.reddit.com/r/learnjava/comments/f7crfb/why_is_it_considered_bad_practice_to_use_optional/
• https://dev.to/xuan_56087d315ff4f52254e6/youre-using-optional-wrong-this-java-flaw-leaks-memory-crashes-apps-ln8

[hemasekhar-p]

Thank you for sharing this feedback. I completely agree that chaining multiple .get() calls and strict Optional checks is verbose and can feel "unsafe" to write, especially when we are working with Collections, we will expect an empty list rather than a null field.

The problem is coming from Underlying API design and how the SDK generates code. The GeneratedImages field is marked as optional in the upstream API definition. Because of this, the java generator translates it into an Optional List.

Until we can improve the generation process or add native convenience methods, The alternative best solution is to add a Kotlin Extension Property if you are using Kotlin or add one utility class to handle unwrapping Optional if you are using Java. I am providing code snippet below for the same. This makes the list always non-null and it will centralize the null safety check. So your code looks clean and easy to read.

Alternative Solution For Kotlin :

Step 1 : Create a file and add the below code snippet.

import com.google.genai.types.EditImageResponse
import com.google.genai.types.GeneratedImage
import com.google.genai.types.Image

val EditImageResponse.images: List
get() = this.generatedImages().orElse(emptyList())

val GeneratedImage.imageOrNull: Image?
get() = this.image().orElse(null)

Step 2 : Now use this Extension Property where ever you required.

val images = response.images
val firstImage = images.firstOrNull()?.imageOrNull

Alternative Solution for Java :

Step 1 : Create a java file and add the below code.

import com.google.genai.types.EditImageResponse;
import com.google.genai.types.GeneratedImage;
import com.google.genai.types.Image;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Optional;

public class GenAiSafeUtils {

 public static List<GeneratedImage> getImagesSafely(EditImageResponse response) {
    if (response == null) return Collections.emptyList();
   
    return response.generatedImages().orElse(Collections.emptyList());
}

 public static Image getImageContentSafely(GeneratedImage generatedImage) {
    if (generatedImage == null) return null;
    
    return generatedImage.image().orElse(null);
}

}

Step 2 : Now use this class where ever you required.

We have noted your feedback regarding the API design for future improvements. I hope these snippets help unblock you in the meantime.