= Nilable Types =

Cobra does 'nil tracking' which forces specification of variables that may be allowed to contain '''nil'''.[[BR]]
This is done to
 * Help eliminate runtime exceptions about nil reference errors 
 * Allow reporting of multiple nil referencing errors at compile time (instead of a single failure point at runtime)
 * Help document which parameters permit nil and which do not

'''nil tracking''' is done by typing the variable as a nilable Type which is by typing to any typeName with a '''?''' suffix

e.g.
{{{
#!cobra
    str as String = "Mystring"    # str can only have a String value
    strN as String?               # strN may have a String value OR nil

    lazyType as Type?             # Type OR nil
}}}

nilable Typing can be applied to anything that can be Typed ( local variables, class variables Args and  returnTypes)

{{{
#!cobra
    def sendWelcome(cust as Customer, referral as Customer?) 
        # will not accept nil for `cust`
        # will accept nil for `referral` 
}}}

== Casting to and From nilable Types ==

Sometimes it is necessary to cast an existing typed variable to a nilable type [[BR]]
( e.g for receiving results of a library call) or [[BR]]
to cast a nilable type to its non nilable type (when you've ascertained its not nil and the receiver only takes a non nilable type)

There is a shorthand for both of these

Casting to a nilable version of an existing type
    <variable> to ?
Casting away from nilable version
    <variable> to !
e.g.
{{{
#!cobra
    s as String = 'a string'
    sn = s to ?    # sn is String?
    assert sn
    s1 = sn to !   # s1 is String - may not get nil
}}}     

== nil and not nil detection ==

You can explicitly test for nil or not nil values using normal conditionals (true is non-nil)
{{{
#!cobra
    s as String = 'sss'
    assert s
    if s
        print 's not nil'
    sn as String? = nil
    assert not sn
    if not sn
       print 'sn is nil'
}}}

== nil and non-nil coalesce ==
There are shortcuts for Nil test and assign default (coalesce) or non nil test and process [[BR]]

'''a ? b''' coalesce to b if (a) nil.[[BR]]
The expression evaluates to a unless that value is nil, in which case, it evaluates to b.[[BR]]
Neither expression will be evaluated more than once and if the first expression is non-nil then b will not be evaluated at all.[[BR]]
( Also the direct augmented assignment version '''a ?= b'''   a gets b if a is nil )

'''a !  b ''' evaluate b if a not nil.  
{{{
#!cobra
    stuff as String? = nil
    defaultStuff='DEFAULT'
 
    stuff = stuff ? defaultStuff  # coalesce nil
    # OR  stuff ?= defaultStuff
    # equivalent to  stuff = if (not stuff, defaultStuff, stuff)
    # or 
    # if not stuff
    #    stuff = defaultStuff
    assert stuff == defaultStuff

                   
    def doSomething(input as String)
        if input  # detect not nil
            print 'Received some input.'

        i as int? = input ! .parse(input)  # execute non-nil
        # equiv to 
        #    i = if(input, .parse(input), input)

	# an alternative would also be:
	# input = input ? '0'
	# i as int = .parse(input)

}}}