Code snippet A is working, but not snippet B. I check variable "image"s data type with print(), both A and B's image (variable) has a datatype (XFile), not a Null. But B is still not working....
final XFile? image = await _picker.pickImage(source: ImageSource.gallery);
print(image);
// Code snippet A
if (image == null) return null;
return File(image.path);
// Code snippet B
return File(image!.path);
The meaning of your code snippet A is:
If the image variable is null it will return null otherwise it will return the image variable.
The meaning of your code snippet B is:
It returns the image variable, although the image variable may be null.
If you use code snippet B, you use ! and change the variable from a nullable type to a non-nullable type, and the variable is actually empty (has no value) and you can't use .path so it returns an error.
image can be null, In Code A you check for nullable value so you won't get exception, but in code B you are using ! on nullable value which is wrong.
If you look for short form you can try this:
return image == null ? null : File(image.path);
