Error Handling and Optional Chaining

async handleLoad() {
    try {
        this.accounts = await getAccounts();
    } catch (error) {
        this.error = error;
        console.error('Failed to load accounts', error);
    }
}

Wrapping an await call in try/catch lets you handle a rejected Promise gracefully — showing an error message to the user, for instance — instead of letting the failure crash silently or propagate unhandled.

const accountName = record?.Account?.Name;

If record or record.Account is null or undefined at any point in the chain, this safely evaluates to undefined instead of throwing a "Cannot read property of undefined" error. This is extremely common with Salesforce wire data, which is frequently null for a brief moment while it's still loading (Module 6).

const displayName = record?.Account?.Name ?? 'Unknown Account';

?? pairs naturally with optional chaining — providing a fallback value specifically when the left side is null or undefined (unlike ||, which also triggers on other falsy values like an empty string or 0).

Wire service data (Module 6) is commonly undefined before it finishes loading. A template or getter that assumes data is always present will throw errors during that loading window — optional chaining is the standard, idiomatic way to guard against exactly this.