To offer a differing opinion, why is null helpful at all?
If you have data that may be empty, it’s better to explicitly represent that possibility with an Optional<T> generic type. This makes the API more clear, and if implicit null isn’t allowed by the language, prevents someone from passing null where a value is expected.
Or if it’s uninitialized, the data can be stored as Partial<T>, where all the fields are Optional<U>. If the type system was nominal, it would ensure that the uninitialized or partially-initialized type can’t be accidentally used where T is expected since Partial<T> != T. When the object is finally ready, have a function to convert it from Partial<T> into T.
Ignoring the fact that a lot of languages, and database systems, do not support generics (but do already support null), you’ve just introduced a more complex type of null value; you’re simply slapping some lipstick on it. 😊
To offer a differing opinion, why is null helpful at all?
If you have data that may be empty, it’s better to explicitly represent that possibility with an
Optional<T>generic type. This makes the API more clear, and if implicit null isn’t allowed by the language, prevents someone from passing null where a value is expected.Or if it’s uninitialized, the data can be stored as
Partial<T>, where all the fields areOptional<U>. If the type system was nominal, it would ensure that the uninitialized or partially-initialized type can’t be accidentally used whereTis expected sincePartial<T>!=T. When the object is finally ready, have a function to convert it fromPartial<T>intoT.Ignoring the fact that a lot of languages, and database systems, do not support generics (but do already support null), you’ve just introduced a more complex type of null value; you’re simply slapping some lipstick on it. 😊
Type-safe lipstick :)