* safe to do so. The exact circumstances under which a copy will or will not be performed are
   * undocumented and subject to change.
   *
   * @throws NullPointerException if any key or value in {@code multimap} is null
   */
  public static <K, V> ImmutableListMultimap<K, V> copyOf(
      Multimap<? extends K, ? extends V> multimap) {
    if (multimap.isEmpty()) {

   * NullPointerException}.
   */
  @CheckForNull
  static <V extends @Nullable Object> V safeGet(Map<?, V> map, @CheckForNull Object key) {
    checkNotNull(map);
    try {
      return map.get(key);
    } catch (ClassCastException | NullPointerException e) {
      return null;
    }
  }

  /**

   *
   * @throws NullPointerException if any element is null
   */
  public static <E extends Comparable<? super E>> ImmutableSortedMultiset<E> of(
      E e1, E e2, E e3, E e4) {
    return copyOf(Ordering.natural(), Arrays.asList(e1, e2, e3, e4));
  }

  /**
   * Returns an immutable sorted multiset containing the given elements sorted by their natural
   * ordering.
   *
   * @throws NullPointerException if any element is null

    @Override
    public OutputStream openStream() {
      return ByteStreams.nullOutputStream();
    }
  }

  // Compare by toString() to satisfy 2 properties:
  // 1. compareTo(null) should throw NullPointerException
  // 2. the order is deterministic and easy to understand, for debugging purpose.
  @SuppressWarnings("ComparableType")
  private static final class ByToString implements Comparable<Object>, Serializable {

    @Override
    public OutputStream openStream() {
      return ByteStreams.nullOutputStream();
    }
  }

  // Compare by toString() to satisfy 2 properties:
  // 1. compareTo(null) should throw NullPointerException
  // 2. the order is deterministic and easy to understand, for debugging purpose.
  @SuppressWarnings("ComparableType")
  private static final class ByToString implements Comparable<Object>, Serializable {

   * @return {@code ImmutableListMultimap} mapping the result of evaluating the function {@code
   *     keyFunction} on each value in the input collection to that value
   * @throws NullPointerException if any element of {@code values} is {@code null}, or if {@code
   *     keyFunction} produces {@code null} for any key
   */
  public static <K, V> ImmutableListMultimap<K, V> index(

   *       Objects.equal}{@code (a, b)} implies that {@code Objects.equal(function.apply(a),
   *       function.apply(b))}.
   * </ul>
   *
   * @throws NullPointerException if {@code input} is null and this function does not accept null
   *     arguments
   */
  @ParametricNullness
  T apply(@ParametricNullness F input);

  /**

    }
    return false;
  }

  /**
   * Returns {@code element} cast to {@code E}, if it actually is a nonnull E. Otherwise, throws
   * either a NullPointerException or a ClassCastException as appropriate.
   */
  private void checkIsE(Object element) {
    checkNotNull(element);
    if (!isActuallyE(element)) {

   * necessary.
   *
   * <p>The returned iterator supports {@code remove()} when the corresponding input iterator
   * supports it.
   *
   * @throws NullPointerException if any of the provided iterators is null
   */
  @SafeVarargs
  public static <T extends @Nullable Object> Iterator<T> concat(Iterator<? extends T>... inputs) {