Safely Handling Strings

Dealing with a lot of Strings? Leading and trailing white space got you down? Wish there was a consistently easy approach to ensure that they're all trimmed and to guard against null?

/*
 * Copyright © 2013 - Elliott Frisch
 * 
 * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED UNDER THE CREATIVE COMMONS
 * LICENSE 3.0 "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER
 * EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE
 * IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND/OR FITNESS FOR
 * A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
 * 
 * To use this software you must agree to the complete
 * license terms available at:
 * http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/deed.en_US
 * 
 * It is the intent of the author(s) that you may use or
 * modify this software for any purpose (including your own
 * commercial gain) provided that this notice remains in its
 * entirety.
 * 
 * Created by Elliott Frisch - www.frischcode.com
 */
package com.frischcode.util;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.List;

/**
 * <b>Rationale:</b> Frequently used methods for safely
 * trimming String(s) and guarding against null.
 * 
 * @author Elliott Frisch
 */
public class SafeString {
  /**
   * Safely trim a String. Will help guard against null(s).
   * 
   * @param in
   *          The String to trim.
   * @return The trimmed String if <b>in</b> is not null,
   *         otherwise the empty String.
   */
  public static String safeTrim(final String in) {
    return (in != null) ? in.trim() : "";
  }

  /**
   * Safely trim an Array of String(s). Will ensure that
   * every String is trimmed or empty. <b>NOTE:</b> Will
   * return an EMPTY String Array on null in.
   * 
   * @param in
   *          The String(s) to trim.
   * @return The trimmed String(s).
   */
  public static String[] safeTrim(final String... in) {
    if (in == null) {
      return new String[] {};
    }
    if (in.length > 0) {
      for (int i = 0; i < in.length; ++i) {
        in[i] = safeTrim(in[i]);
      }
    }
    return in;
  }

  /**
   * Safely trim a Collection of String(s). Will ensure that
   * every String is trimmed or empty. <b>NOTE:</b> Will
   * return an EMPTY String Collection on null in.
   * 
   * @param in
   *          The Collection of String(s) to trim.
   * @return The trimmed String(s).
   */
  public static Collection<String> safeTrim(
      final Collection<String> in) {
    final List<String> al = new ArrayList<String>();

    if (in == null) {
      return al;
    }
    if (in.size() > 0) {
      for (final String str : in) {
        al.add(safeTrim(str));
      }
      in.clear();
      in.addAll(al);
    }

    return in;
  }
}