scala - Combining 2 Options into 1

Question

Is there a predefined function x in Scala that combine 2 Options so that

Some(a) x None => Some(a)
None x Some(b) => Some(b)
None x None => None

Answer 1

Yes, this is the orElse method. It chooses the first defined value, or None if neither is defined.

scala> Some(1) orElse None
res0: Option[Int] = Some(1)

scala> None orElse Some(1)
res1: Option[Int] = Some(1)

scala> None orElse None
res2: Option[Nothing] = None

scala> Some(1) orElse Some(2)
res3: Option[Int] = Some(1)