diff --git a/examples/helloworld/main.cc b/examples/helloworld/main.cc
index 586cdd52..7b92827b 100644
--- a/examples/helloworld/main.cc
+++ b/examples/helloworld/main.cc
@@ -52,11 +52,11 @@ int main()
         [](const HttpRequestPtr &req,
            std::function<void(const HttpResponsePtr &)> &&callback) {
             auto resp = HttpResponse::newHttpResponse();
-            std::string name = req->getParameter("user");
-            if (name == "")
+            auto name = req->getOptionalParameter<std::string>("user");
+            if (!name)
                 resp->setBody("Please tell me your name");
             else
-                resp->setBody("Hello, " + name + "!");
+                resp->setBody("Hello, " + name.value() + "!");
             callback(resp);
         },
         {Get});
diff --git a/lib/inc/drogon/HttpBinder.h b/lib/inc/drogon/HttpBinder.h
index e681d9c1..107f0b56 100644
--- a/lib/inc/drogon/HttpBinder.h
+++ b/lib/inc/drogon/HttpBinder.h
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include <drogon/DrClassMap.h>
 #include <drogon/DrObject.h>
 #include <drogon/utils/FunctionTraits.h>
+#include <drogon/utils/Utilities.h>
 #include <drogon/HttpRequest.h>
 #include <deque>
 #include <memory>
@@ -159,27 +160,8 @@ class HttpBinder : public HttpBinderBase
     std::string handlerName_;
 
     template <typename T>
-    struct CanConvertFromStringStream
-    {
-      private:
-        using yes = std::true_type;
-        using no = std::false_type;
-
-        template <typename U>
-        static auto test(U *p, std::stringstream &&ss)
-            -> decltype((ss >> *p), yes());
-
-        template <typename>
-        static no test(...);
-
-      public:
-        static constexpr bool value =
-            std::is_same<decltype(test<T>(nullptr, std::stringstream())),
-                         yes>::value;
-    };
-
-    template <typename T>
-    typename std::enable_if<CanConvertFromStringStream<T>::value, void>::type
+    typename std::enable_if<internal::CanConvertFromStringStream<T>::value,
+                            void>::type
     getHandlerArgumentValue(T &value, std::string &&p)
     {
         if (!p.empty())
@@ -190,7 +172,8 @@ class HttpBinder : public HttpBinderBase
     }
 
     template <typename T>
-    typename std::enable_if<!(CanConvertFromStringStream<T>::value), void>::type
+    typename std::enable_if<!(internal::CanConvertFromStringStream<T>::value),
+                            void>::type
     getHandlerArgumentValue(T &value, std::string &&p)
     {
     }
diff --git a/lib/inc/drogon/HttpRequest.h b/lib/inc/drogon/HttpRequest.h
index 2de7b95a..3ad1a163 100644
--- a/lib/inc/drogon/HttpRequest.h
+++ b/lib/inc/drogon/HttpRequest.h
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 
 #include <drogon/exports.h>
 #include <drogon/utils/string_view.h>
+#include <drogon/utils/optional.h>
+#include <drogon/utils/Utilities.h>
 #include <drogon/DrClassMap.h>
 #include <drogon/HttpTypes.h>
 #include <drogon/Session.h>
@@ -277,6 +279,38 @@ class DROGON_EXPORT HttpRequest
     /// Get a parameter identified by the @param key
     virtual const std::string &getParameter(const std::string &key) const = 0;
 
+    /**
+     * @brief Get the optional parameter identified by the @param key. if the
+     * parameter doesn't exist, or the original parameter can't be converted to
+     * a T type object, an empty optional object is returned.
+     *
+     * @tparam T
+     * @param key
+     * @return optional<T>
+     */
+    template <typename T>
+    optional<T> getOptionalParameter(const std::string &key)
+    {
+        auto &params = getParameters();
+        auto it = params.find(key);
+        if (it != params.end())
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                return optional<T>(drogon::utils::fromString<T>(it->second));
+            }
+            catch (const std::exception &e)
+            {
+                LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+                return optional<T>{};
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            return optional<T>{};
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Return the remote IP address and port
     virtual const trantor::InetAddress &peerAddr() const = 0;
     const trantor::InetAddress &getPeerAddr() const
diff --git a/lib/inc/drogon/utils/Utilities.h b/lib/inc/drogon/utils/Utilities.h
index dc7099ec..0c7e0451 100644
--- a/lib/inc/drogon/utils/Utilities.h
+++ b/lib/inc/drogon/utils/Utilities.h
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
 #include <vector>
 #include <set>
 #include <limits>
+#include <sstream>
+#include <algorithm>
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #include <time.h>
 char *strptime(const char *s, const char *f, struct tm *tm);
@@ -31,6 +33,28 @@ time_t timegm(struct tm *tm);
 #endif
 namespace drogon
 {
+namespace internal
+{
+template <typename T>
+struct CanConvertFromStringStream
+{
+  private:
+    using yes = std::true_type;
+    using no = std::false_type;
+
+    template <typename U>
+    static auto test(U *p, std::stringstream &&ss)
+        -> decltype((ss >> *p), yes());
+
+    template <typename>
+    static no test(...);
+
+  public:
+    static constexpr bool value =
+        std::is_same<decltype(test<T>(nullptr, std::stringstream())),
+                     yes>::value;
+};
+}  // namespace internal
 namespace utils
 {
 /// Determine if the string is an integer
@@ -282,5 +306,105 @@ DROGON_EXPORT void replaceAll(std::string &s,
  */
 DROGON_EXPORT bool secureRandomBytes(void *ptr, size_t size);
 
+template <typename T>
+typename std::enable_if<internal::CanConvertFromStringStream<T>::value, T>::type
+fromString(const std::string &p) noexcept(false)
+{
+    T value{};
+    if (!p.empty())
+    {
+        std::stringstream ss(p);
+        ss >> value;
+    }
+    return value;
+}
+
+template <typename T>
+typename std::enable_if<!(internal::CanConvertFromStringStream<T>::value),
+                        T>::type
+fromString(const std::string &) noexcept(false)
+{
+    throw std::runtime_error("Bad type conversion");
+}
+
+template <>
+inline std::string fromString<std::string>(const std::string &p) noexcept(false)
+{
+    return p;
+}
+
+template <>
+inline int fromString<int>(const std::string &p) noexcept(false)
+{
+    return std::stoi(p);
+}
+
+template <>
+inline long fromString<long>(const std::string &p) noexcept(false)
+{
+    return std::stol(p);
+}
+
+template <>
+inline long long fromString<long long>(const std::string &p) noexcept(false)
+{
+    return std::stoll(p);
+}
+
+template <>
+inline unsigned long fromString<unsigned long>(const std::string &p) noexcept(
+    false)
+{
+    return std::stoul(p);
+}
+
+template <>
+inline unsigned long long fromString<unsigned long long>(
+    const std::string &p) noexcept(false)
+{
+    return std::stoull(p);
+}
+
+template <>
+inline float fromString<float>(const std::string &p) noexcept(false)
+{
+    return std::stof(p);
+}
+
+template <>
+inline double fromString<double>(const std::string &p) noexcept(false)
+{
+    return std::stod(p);
+}
+
+template <>
+inline long double fromString<long double>(const std::string &p) noexcept(false)
+{
+    return std::stold(p);
+}
+
+template <>
+inline bool fromString<bool>(const std::string &p) noexcept(false)
+{
+    if (p == "1")
+    {
+        return true;
+    }
+    if (p == "0")
+    {
+        return false;
+    }
+    std::string l{p};
+    std::transform(p.begin(), p.end(), l.begin(), tolower);
+    if (l == "true")
+    {
+        return true;
+    }
+    else if (l == "false")
+    {
+        return false;
+    }
+    throw std::runtime_error("Can't convert from string '" + p + "' to bool");
+}
 }  // namespace utils
 }  // namespace drogon