[datalist]

> With a reference, you have no good way of telling whether your reference IS nullable.

You do, a reference is ALWAYS nullable/optional. Just because people might expect a certain reference never to be null does not change that. You could equally as well as semantically expect an Optional never to be "optional" (it is just a matter of perspective). People who are too lazy to check for null might be too lazy to check isPresent() and both will give you, unsurprisingly, an exception.

java.util.Optional is really just yet another layer added to support laziness in software developers. To put it bluntly, write better manuals/JavaDocs if necessary and, most importantly, read them.

[peeters]

If you ever have actual success getting developers to obey documented input/output constraints without actually enforcing them with a static or runtime check, you could probably become a highly-paid coach. But I'm skeptical. I've never seen it happen, and most good libraries I've used (e.g. Guava) always follow up preconditions with a runtime check. Statically enforceable pre/postconditions shouldn't even have to be documented because the signature is the documentation.

Good libraries allow their developers to be lazy.