[jira] [Created] (FLINK-3001) Add Support for Java 8 Optional type

[Shang Yuanchun (Jira)]

Stephan Ewen created FLINK-3001:
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             Summary: Add Support for Java 8 Optional type
                 Key: FLINK-3001
                 URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/FLINK-3001
             Project: Flink
          Issue Type: New Feature
          Components: Java API
    Affects Versions: 0.10
            Reporter: Stephan Ewen
            Priority: Minor
             Fix For: 1.0


Using {{Optional}} is a good way to handle nullable fields.
The missing support for null fields in tuples can be easily handled by using {{Optional<T>}} for nullable fields and {{T}} directly for non nullable fields.
That also retains best serialization efficiency.

Since we cannot always assume the presence of {{Optional}} (only introduced in Java8), the TypeExtractor needs to analyze and create that TypeInfo with reflection.

Further more, we need to add the OptionalTypeInfo to the flink-java8 project and people need to include flink-java8 in their project if they want to use the Optional.



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