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Option and Escaping Null: the Maybe Type, Map, Bind and the Secret of LINQ Query Syntax

Option expresses "no value" as a type and makes you answer "what if there isn't one?" before you reach the value; nullable reference types are enough in most places, but Option pays off in chained computations and nested kinds of absence. We build Bookstore's coupon calculation with our own Option<T> using Map, Bind and Match, and show why LINQ query syntax works once Select/SelectMany exist, along with the map + flatten intuition behind monads.