Option gets an empty factory like the collections.

1 files changed, 6 insertions, 4 deletions

diff --git a/src/library/scala/Option.scala b/src/library/scala/Option.scala
index 8992024353..c3cfb14b73 100644
--- a/src/library/scala/Option.scala
+++ b/src/library/scala/Option.scala
@@ -6,12 +6,9 @@
 **                          |/                                          **
 \*                                                                      */
 
-
-
 package scala
 
-object Option
-{
+object Option {
   /** An implicit conversion that converts an option to an iterable value
    */
   implicit def option2Iterable[A](xo: Option[A]): Iterable[A] = xo.toList
@@ -23,6 +20,11 @@ object Option
    *  @return   Some(value) if value != null, None if value == null
    */
   def apply[A](x: A): Option[A] = if (x == null) None else Some(x)
+
+  /** An Option factory which returns None in a manner consistent with
+   *  the collections hierarchy.
+   */
+  def empty[A] : Option[A] = None
 }
 
 /** This class represents optional values. Instances of <code>Option</code>