Optional types shine the best when you can chain them: BufferedImage avatar = users.getUser(userName) .flatMap(User::getAvatarUri) .flatMap(ImgIO::read)

Optional types shine the best when you can chain them: BufferedImage avatar = users.getUser(userName) .flatMap(User::getAvatarUri) .flatMap(ImgIO::read) .orElse(anonymousAvatar); I made this up, but I hope you see the point. Optional is just a fancy null pointer if you don't use it in a functional way. :-)