diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index c88c384..48e3855 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+  xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.sonatype.oss</groupId>
@@ -40,6 +41,12 @@
       <artifactId>gson</artifactId>
       <version>2.2.2</version>
     </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.easytesting</groupId>
+      <artifactId>fest-reflect</artifactId>
+      <version>1.4.1</version>
+      <scope>test</scope>
+    </dependency>
   </dependencies>
   <build>
     <plugins>
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/moandjiezana/toml/Toml.java b/src/main/java/com/moandjiezana/toml/Toml.java
index 2fe38d3..5b0fc4e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/moandjiezana/toml/Toml.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/moandjiezana/toml/Toml.java
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package com.moandjiezana.toml;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -16,8 +17,20 @@ import org.parboiled.support.ParsingResult;
 import com.google.gson.Gson;
 
 /**
+ * <p>Provides access to the keys and tables in a TOML data source.</p>
  *
- * All getters can fall back to default values if they have been provided and will return null if no matching key exists.
+ * <p>All getters can fall back to default values if they have been provided.
+ * Getters for simple values (String, Date, etc.) will return null if no matching key exists.
+ * {@link #getList(String, Class)}, {@link #getTable(String)} and {@link #getTables(String)} return empty values if there is no matching key.</p>
+ *
+ * <p>Example usage:</p>
+ * <code><pre>
+ * Toml toml = new Toml().parse(getTomlFile());
+ * String name = toml.getString("name");
+ * Long port = toml.getLong("server.ip"); // compound key. Is equivalent to:
+ * Long port2 = toml.getTable("server").getLong("ip");
+ * MyConfig config = toml.to(MyConfig.class);
+ * </pre></code>
  *
  */
 public class Toml {
@@ -25,23 +38,50 @@ public class Toml {
   private Map<String, Object> values = new HashMap<String, Object>();
   private final Toml defaults;
 
+  /**
+   * Creates Toml instance with no defaults.
+   */
   public Toml() {
     this((Toml) null);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @param defaults fallback values used when the requested key or table is not present.
+   */
   public Toml(Toml defaults) {
     this.defaults = defaults;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Populates the current Toml instance with values from tomlString.
+   *
+   * @param file
+   * @return this instance
+   * @throws IllegalStateException If file contains invalid TOML
+   */
   public Toml parse(File file) {
+    Scanner scanner = null;
     try {
-      return parse(new Scanner(file).useDelimiter("\\Z").next());
+      scanner = new Scanner(file);
+
+      return parse(scanner.useDelimiter("\\Z").next());
     } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
       throw new RuntimeException(e);
+    } finally {
+      if (scanner != null) {
+        scanner.close();
+      }
     }
   }
 
-  public Toml parse(String tomlString) {
+  /**
+   * Populates the current Toml instance with values from tomlString.
+   *
+   * @param tomlString
+   * @return this instance
+   * @throws IllegalStateException If tomlString is not valid TOML
+   */
+  public Toml parse(String tomlString) throws IllegalStateException {
     TomlParser parser = Parboiled.createParser(TomlParser.class);
     ParsingResult<Object> result = new RecoveringParseRunner<Object>(parser.Toml()).run(tomlString);
 //    ParsingResult<Object> parsingResult = new ReportingParseRunner<Object>(parser.Toml()).run(tomlString);
@@ -67,7 +107,13 @@ public class Toml {
 
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   public <T> List<T> getList(String key, Class<T> itemClass) {
-    return (List<T>) get(key);
+    List<T> list = (List<T>) get(key);
+
+    if (list == null) {
+      return Collections.emptyList();
+    }
+
+    return list;
   }
 
   public Boolean getBoolean(String key) {
@@ -82,21 +128,59 @@ public class Toml {
     return (Double) get(key);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * If no value is found for key, an empty Toml instance is returned.
+   *
+   * @param key
+   */
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   public Toml getTable(String key) {
     return new Toml((Map<String, Object>) get(key));
   }
 
+  /**
+   * If no value is found for key, an empty list is returned.
+   * @param key
+   */
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   public List<Toml> getTables(String key) {
+    List<Map<String, Object>> tableArray = (List<Map<String, Object>>) get(key);
+
+    if (tableArray == null) {
+      return Collections.emptyList();
+    }
+
     ArrayList<Toml> tables = new ArrayList<Toml>();
-    for (Map<String, Object> table : (List<Map<String, Object>>) get(key)) {
+    for (Map<String, Object> table : tableArray) {
       tables.add(new Toml(table));
     }
 
     return tables;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * <p>Populates an instance of targetClass with the values of this Toml instance.
+   * The target's field names must match keys or tables.
+   * Keys not present in targetClass will be ignored.</p>
+   *
+   * <p>Tables are recursively converted to custom classes.</p>
+   *
+   * @param targetClass
+   */
+  public <T> T to(Class<T> targetClass) {
+    HashMap<String, Object> valuesCopy = new HashMap<String, Object>(values);
+    if (defaults != null) {
+      for (Map.Entry<String, Object> entry : defaults.values.entrySet()) {
+        if (!valuesCopy.containsKey(entry.getKey())) {
+          valuesCopy.put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    Gson gson = new Gson();
+    String json = gson.toJson(valuesCopy);
+    return gson.fromJson(json, targetClass);
+  }
+
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   private Object get(String key) {
     String[] split = key.split("\\.");
@@ -126,21 +210,7 @@ public class Toml {
   }
 
   private Toml(Map<String, Object> values) {
-    this.values = values;
+    this.values = values != null ? values : Collections.<String, Object>emptyMap();
     this.defaults = null;
   }
-
-  public <T> T to(Class<T> targetClass) {
-    HashMap<String, Object> valuesCopy = new HashMap<String, Object>(values);
-    if (defaults != null) {
-      for (Map.Entry<String, Object> entry : defaults.values.entrySet()) {
-        if (!valuesCopy.containsKey(entry.getKey())) {
-          valuesCopy.put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
-        }
-      }
-    }
-    Gson gson = new Gson();
-    String json = gson.toJson(valuesCopy);
-    return gson.fromJson(json, targetClass);
-  }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/moandjiezana/toml/TomlTest.java b/src/test/java/com/moandjiezana/toml/TomlTest.java
index f600058..f768dd9 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/moandjiezana/toml/TomlTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/moandjiezana/toml/TomlTest.java
@@ -8,8 +8,11 @@ import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.util.Calendar;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.TimeZone;
 
+import org.fest.reflect.core.Reflection;
 import org.junit.Ignore;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
@@ -129,6 +132,13 @@ public class TomlTest {
     assertNull(toml.getString("a"));
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void should_return_empty_list_if_no_value_for_key() throws Exception {
+    Toml toml = new Toml().parse("");
+
+    assertTrue(toml.getList("a", String.class).isEmpty());
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void should_return_null_when_no_value_for_multi_key() throws Exception {
     Toml toml = new Toml().parse("");
@@ -136,6 +146,21 @@ public class TomlTest {
     assertNull(toml.getString("group.key"));
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void should_return_empty_toml_when_no_value_for_table() throws Exception {
+    Toml toml = new Toml().parse("[a]").getTable("b");
+
+    assertTrue(Reflection.field("values").ofType(Map.class).in(toml).get().isEmpty());
+    assertNull(toml.getString("x"));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void should_return_empty_list_when_no_value_for_table_array() throws Exception {
+    List<Toml> tomls = new Toml().parse("[a]").getTables("b");
+
+    assertTrue(tomls.isEmpty());
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void should_load_from_file() throws Exception {
     Toml toml = new Toml().parse(new File(getClass().getResource("should_load_from_file.toml").getFile()));