I am new to Dart and Flutter.
In dart what is the difference between using ? and ! for null-able types?
validator: ((value) {
if (value?.isEmpty) {
return "Field is required";
}
return null;
}),
validator: ((value) {
if (value!.isEmpty) {
return "Field is required";
}
return null;
}),
Thanks in advance!
Good topic about it : What is Null Safety in Dart?
But in short, you use "?" when you want to allow the value to be null and use it accordingly, like this:
String? test;
if (test?.isEmpty == true) { // And is not null, but you don't need to check it
// If null, will never pass there but without error
}
And use "!" when you want to be sure to have a non nullable value, like this:
String? test;
if (test!.isEmpty == true) { // Will throw an error
...
}
the difference between the two,one can be null initially, but the other cannot.
I hope you understand in the example below.
To specify if the variable can be null, then you can use the nullable type ?
operator, Lets see an example:
String? carName; // initialized to null by default
int? value = 36; // initialized to non-null
value = null; // can be re-assigned to null
Note: You don’t need to initialize a nullable variable before using it. It is initialized to null by default.
The Assertion Operator (!)
Use the null assertion operator ( ! ) to make Dart treat a nullable expression as non-nullable if you’re certain it isn’t null.
int? someValue = 30;
int data = someValue!; // This is valid as value is non-nullable
In the above example, we are telling Dart that the variable someValue is null, and it is safe to assign it to a non-nullable variable i.e. data
I hope you understand????
As for your example;
if you notice, the validator {String? value} value can initially be null. but the only difference between both works in the code you wrote will be the running cost. '?' it will cost some time when you define it again. because it is already stated in the function that it will be null as a start.
It's a good question and the answer is here as a person.
'?' it means it will get value later or it can be null( initially or at any instance) for example
String? carName;
'!' it means you are going to receive the value and it can not be null. it will check the value if the value is null it will give exception.
have a look on example for clear difference:
List? blocks;
...
// you are not sure blocks variable is initialized or not.
// block is nullable.
final Block? block = blocks?.first;
// you are sure blocks variable is initialized.
// block is not nullable.
final Block block = blocks!.first;
hope you got it if yes accept the answer or comment me if you have question
Related
error: The argument type 'Future<List<GalleryPictureInfo>>' can't be assigned to the parameter type 'Future<List<GalleryPictureInfo>>?'.
Is this Dart Analysis or me? The project still compiles.
Upd. Added code example
FutureBuilder<List<GalleryPictureInfo>>(
future: derpiService.getListOfImages(),
//other code
);
#override
Future<List<GalleryPictureInfo>> getListOfImages(arguments) async {
List<GalleryPictureInfo> listOfImages = [];
var searchImages = await getSearchImages(tags: tags, page: page);
//adding images to List
return listOfImages;
}
It's something with FutureBuilder actually. I should've mention this.
Upd. "Fixed" with // ignore: argument_type_not_assignable
Looks like a problem with Dart Analysis for now
Upd. Error
It actually is an error which is pretty self explanatory.
The acutal error comes because of null safety in dart.
For ex:
void main(){
var number = getNumber(true);
int parsedNumber = int.parse(number);
print(parsedNumber);
}
String? getNumber(boolean value) {
if (value){
return null;
} else return "1";
}
So here, getNumber function either returns null or "1" depending upon the value of value variable. So, number variable's type is String?.
But the error shall arise in the next line when you try to call int.parse(). int.parse function takes an argument which should be a String but the value passed in the function is of type String?. So if we pass null in int.parse it shall throw an error.
That's why Dart analysis makes it easier to identify such cases by telling us that the value can be null and it might throw.
However the code depends upon your actual code of your project. It says that you are passing Future<List<GalleryPictureInfo>>? which is of nullable type to a function which requires Future<List<GalleryPictureInfo>>. So, before passing the value you might want to check if the value you are passing is not null.
If you are sure that the value can never be null then if for ex: if you are passing a variable called value, you might wanna try someFunctionWhereYouPassValue(value!)
That ! means that you are sure that the value will never be null.
For more details about null safety you can see:
https://dart.dev/null-safety/understanding-null-safety
String playerName(String? name) {
if (name != null) {
return name;
} else {
return 'Guest';
}
}
? checks whether name is null or not, then why is special if (name != null) { condition required?
The String? name means that the parameter name is nullable as you can see lower in the code the if statement then checks if your parameter is not null.
Dart docs definition:
If you enable null safety, variables can’t contain null unless you say they can. You can make a variable nullable by putting a question mark (?) at the end of its type. For example, a variable of type int? might be an integer, or it might be null. If you know that an expression never evaluates to null but Dart disagrees, you can add ! to assert that it isn’t null (and to throw an exception if it is). An example: int x = nullableButNotNullInt!
Link to docs
I'm just working through this whole null-safety mode with my Flutter project and unsure what the difference is with ? and ! in calls to object methods.
For example, the hint was to add a ! conditional. Here's an example I have right now, and I'm unsure if this should be a ? or a ! at the findNbr!.replaceAll().
Future checkItem({String? findNbr}) async {
int? x = int.tryParse(findNbr!.replaceAll('-', ''));
...
Does this mean replaceAll() will not run if findNbr is null?
Or should it be a ? instead? findNbr?.replaceAll()
EDIT: I just noticed I cannot use findNbr?, it's telling String? can't be assigned parameter String.
Or does it mean I say it's not null and run it anyway?
For your information, I have not come close to running my app yet so I have no idea if it even works. But I figure I better know what it's doing before get too much more done. I'm still in the process of converting everything and there's 75-100 dart files. I'm not sure I get the point of it all to be honest, because I just add ? to everything, so its all nullable anyway.
Future checkItem({String? findNbr}) async {
int? x = int.tryParse(findNbr!.replaceAll('-', ''));
...
Does this mean replaceAll() will not run if findNbr is null?
Correct. If findNbr is null, then findNbr! will throw a runtime exception. That would be bad, especially since checkItem's function signature advertises that findNbr is allowed to be null, and therefore it would violate callers' expectations.
Or should it be a ? instead? findNbr?.replaceAll()
EDIT: I just noticed I cannot use findNbr?, it's telling String? can't be assigned parameter String.
You can't use findNbr?.replaceAll(...) because if findNbr is null, then it would be invoking int.tryParse(null), but int.tryParse is not allowed to take a null argument.
What you need to do is one of:
Make findNbr no longer optional:
Future checkItem({required String findNbr}) async {
int? x = int.tryParse(findNbr.replaceAll('-', ''));
...
Allow findNbr to be optional but have a non-null default value:
Future checkItem({String findNbr = ''}) async {
int? x = int.tryParse(findNbr.replaceAll('-', ''));
...
Allow findNbr to be optional but explicitly decide what to do if it is null. For example:
Future checkItem({String? findNbr}) async {
int? x = findNbr == null ? null : int.tryParse(findNbr.replaceAll('-', ''));
...
I'm not sure I get the point of it all to be honest, because I just add ? to everything, so its all nullable anyway.
If you blindly add ? to all types and add ! to all variables, then yes, null-safety would be pointless: doing that would give you the same behavior as Dart before null-safety.
The point of null-safety is to prevent things that shouldn't be null from ever being null. You could have written such code before, but without null-safety, that meant performing runtime null checks (e.g. assert(x != null);, if (x != null) { ... }, or relying on a null-pointer-exception to crash the program if null was used where it wasn't expected). Null-safety means that such checks now can be done at build-time by static analysis, which means that errors can be caught earlier and more completely. Furthermore, whereas previously functions needed to explicitly document whether arguments and return values were allowed to be null (and inadequate or incorrect documentation could be a source of errors), now they're self-documenting in that regard. It's just like using int foo(String s) versus dynamic foo(dynamic s); using strong types catches errors earlier and better describes the function's contract.
I recommend reading Understanding Null Safety if you haven't already done so.
I would like to advice you to use the ! operator, also the called bang operator, as little as possible. You should only use this operator when the dart analyser is wrong and you know for 100% that the value will never be null.
Below is an example of where the dart analyser would be wrong and you should use the bang operator.
// We have a class dog with a nullable name.
class Dog {
String? name;
Dog({this.name});
}
void main() {
// We create a dog without a name.
final dog = Dog();
// We assign the dog a name.
dog.name = 'George';
// The dart analyser will show an error because it can't know if the
// name of the object is not null.
//
// Will throw: `A value of type 'String?' can't be assigned to a
// variable of type 'String'`.
String myDogsName = dog.name;
// To avoid this, you should use the bang operator because you `know` it
// is not null.
String myDogsName = dog.name!;
}
The ? operator simply tells Dart that the value can be null. So every time you want to place a ? operator, ask yourself, can this value ever be null?
The null safety features in Dart are mainly created for helping the developer remember when a value can be null. Dart will now simply tell you when you made a variable nullable in order to force null checks or default values for example.
I'm having trouble understanding how to type promote an object's field if it is nullable. Let's say I had the following Comment class and tried to access its one nullable field:
class Comment {
final String? text;
Comment(this.text);
}
void main() {
final comment = Comment("comment");
if (comment.text!= null) {
String text = comment!.text;
}
}
The Dart compiler would give me an error for trying to assign a nullable variable to a non-nullable variable. From what I've gathered from looking into this topic, it's impossible to have type promotion with instance variables because instance variables can be modified which can then break the sound null-safety. I've seen the Null assertion operator (!.) being used in these circumstances, however it doesn't seem to work with fields, only with methods.
With dart null-safety, how should I go about assigning a nullable field such as String? to a non-nullable variable (String). To the same effect, how should I go about passing a nullable field to a function that requires a non-null argument.
You can fix it in different ways:
Use local variable (recommended)
final local = comment.text; // <-- Local variable
if (local != null) {
String text = local;
}
Use ?. and provide a default value
String text = comment?.text ?? 'Default value';
Use Bang operator !
if (comment.text != null) {
String text = comment.text!; // <-- Bang operator
}
Note: Bang operator can result in a runtime error if the text was null.
Recently I have been developing mobile aplication with flutter, when I looking at the source code for TickerProvider I see these lines:
mixin SingleTickerProviderStateMixin<T extends StatefulWidget> on State<T> implements TickerProvider {
Ticker? _ticker;
#override
Ticker createTicker(TickerCallback onTick) {
...
_ticker = Ticker(onTick, debugLabel: kDebugMode ? 'created by $this' : null);
return _ticker!;
}
...
}
I'm interested with this line:
return _ticker!;
I have seen boolean identifier with exclamation mark in the front meaning that it will return the opposite value of it, but I never see this one. Can someone tell me what this does?
It's part of the null safety that Dart have.
You can read about it here
If you’re sure that an expression with a nullable type isn’t null, you can add ! to make Dart treat it as non-nullable
Example:
int? aNullableInt = 2;
int value = aNullableInt!; // `aNullableInt!` is an int.
// This throws if aNullableInt is null.
For betrer undestanding (by analogy with the action of the algorithm itself).
This operator acts as the following inline internal function (at least similarly):
T cast<T>(T? value) {
if (value == null) {
throw _CastError('Null check operator used on a null value');
} else {
return value;
}
}
P.S.
Forgot to add.
Based on the error messages that are generated at runtime, we can conclude that this operator is called the Null check operator, which may mean that it checks the value for null and throws an exception if the value is null.
No magic!