I keep kicking myself for not learning the lesson. I’m writing this down primarily in hopes that I’ll remember it BEFORE I start peppering my code with null checks and try blocks.
I keep using code like
String path = currentNode.getProperty("path");
which throws an exception if path does not exist. I tend to do it without thinking because Resource doesn’t have a getProperty() method or equivalent. But Resource does have adaptTo and you can do
ValueMap resProps = resource.adaptTo(ValueMap.class)
and get a ValueMap of the properties of the resource. After which you can call
String path = resProps.get("path", "");
which is much nicer.
The adaptTo() method is generally awesome and can be used for a ton of stuff. I’m not sure why I keep forgetting about it.
See the CQ docs on sling adapters for details.