Optionals (?T)

TypeScript uses T | null (or T | undefined) to mark "maybe absent" values; Zig's analogue is the type prefix ?T. A ?T value is either some T or null. Three idiomatic ways to handle one: orelse <default> (TS ??), if (x) |unwrapped| { ... } (payload capture that runs only when present), or x.? for "I know it's not null, unwrap anyway" (panics on null). No more silent nullable bugs.