The blog post How I learnt to like Optional shows an example of how to chain Optional values safely, using Optional.orElse() to provide empty objects for the next level in the chain.
This blog post uses Optional.flatMap() and Optional.map(), to achieve the same thing, without having to create the empty objects, and without doing any evaluation for empty objects.
I used to see Optional<Something> as a completely useless addition to Java, adding to the bloat of Java without being any clearer than checking if a reference is null.
I have changed my mind, and now think Optional<> can be useful in making code simpler, easier to understand, and more robust.
The reason I changed my mind, was the usefulness of Optional.orElseThrow() when having to traverse deeply nested data structures in Java code.
Steinar Bangs blogg 