Why is Signer marked optional in Contract constructor.

[grapevinegizmos]

The code for the constructor of 'Contract' is
constructor(contractInterface: ContractInterface, bytecode: BytesLike | { object: string }, signer?: Signer) {

Why is signer optional? I get a null reference error trying to call public view function on a contract created without a signer. So what's the point of the optional signer?

[ricmoo]

The contract can still be used to call populateTransaction. :)

Depending whether you pass in null, a Proviser or a Signer depends on what functionality you get.

The error should indicate that a Signer is needed for any operation that requires a Signer…