protected Object extractFromOptional(Optional<?> optionalList) {
        if (optionalList.isPresent()) {
            return optionalList.get();
        }
        
        return Collections.emptyList();
    }
protected Object extractFromOptional ( Optional < ? > optionalList ) { if ( optionalList . isPresent ( ) ) { return optionalList . get ( ) ; } return Collections . emptyList ( ) ; }
/*
Helper methods