Every Junior Android Developer’s Dilemma with Function Design

Junior Developer Priyank, fresh out of coffee and ideas, stares at his code. He’s stuck. His function works fine, but something just doesn’t sit right with him. Should he check for nulls? Should he inline the function? With no answers in sight, he turns to Senior Developer Sarah for wisdom.

// Priyank's Code

class UrlUtils {
companion object {
fun addProductTypeToUrl(productType: String, url: String): String {
 if (url.isEmpty() || productType.isEmpty()) return url;

val uri = Uri.parse(url).buildUpon()
                .appendQueryParameter("productType", productType)
                .build();
return uri;
}

}
}

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Priyank:
“Hey Sarah, got a minute? I’m stuck on something and could use some advice.”

Sarah:
“Of course, Priyank! What’s bugging you?”

Priyank:
“So, I have this function that adds a productType to a URL. It’s being called from only one place, and I’m sure that productType is never going to be null or empty. Should I still check for nulls or empties before proceeding?"

Sarah:
“Ah, the classic ‘should I add a check even if I don’t need it’ dilemma! Let’s break this down, shall we? First of all, are you 100% sure…