Optional Chaining & Safe Access

Optional chaining (?.) prevents errors when accessing properties that might not exist. It's essential for handling incomplete or variable data structures.

The Problem

Basic Optional Chaining

Optional Chaining with Arrays

Optional Method Calls

Nullish Coalescing (??)

Combine ?. with ?? for default values:

Exercise: Safe Navigation

Exercise: Array Safety

Key Points

• ?. stops and returns undefined if value is null/undefined
• Works with properties: obj?.prop
• Works with arrays: arr?.[0]
• Works with methods: fn?.()
• Combine with ?? for default values
• ?? only replaces null/undefined, not falsy values