In this post we’ll have a look at new operations added to std::optional in C++23. These operations, inspired by functional programming concepts, offer a more concise and expressive way to work with optional values, reducing boilerplate and improving code readability. Let’s meet and_then(), transform() and or_else(), new member functions. Traditional Approach with if/else and optional C++20   In C++20 when you work with std::optional you have to rely heavily on conditional checks to ensure safe access to the contained values.