kotlinnull

Use of Boolean? in if expression


If I have a nullable Boolean b, I can do the following comparison in Java:

Boolean b = ...;
if (b != null && b) {
   /* Do something */
} else {
   /* Do something else */
}

In Kotlin, I can achieve the same by using the !! operator:

val b: Boolean? = ...
if (b != null && b!!) {
   /* Do something */
} else {
   /* Do something else */
}

However, the use of !! feels a bit sketchy to me, circumventing the null safety system.

Is there a more elegant approach for this?


Edit It seems I oversimplicated a bit. For local variables, as Banthar shows, it does work. However, my Boolean b is actually a "property with a backing field" (I'm not really up to speed yet what this imposes). This is the result:

enter image description here


Solution

  • You can compare nullable boolean with true, false or null using equality operator:

    var b: Boolean? = null
    if (b == true) {
        // b is not null and equals true
    } 
    if (b == false) {
        // b is not null and equals false 
    }
    if (b != true) { 
        // b is null or equals false 
    }
    if (b != false) { 
        // b is null or equals true
    }