Lesson plan

Nullable type

Nullable types are a feature of some programming languages which allow a value to be set to the special value NULL instead of the usual possible values of the data type. In statically typed languages, a nullable type is an option type, while in dynamically typed languages (where values have types, but variables do not), equivalent behavior is provided by having a single null value. NULL is frequently used to represent a missing value or invalid value, such as from a function that failed to return or a missing field in a database, as in NULL in SQL. In other words, NULL is undefined. Primitive types such as integers and Booleans cannot generally be null, but the corresponding nullable types (nullable integer and nullable Boolean, respectively) can also assume the NULL value. This can be represented in ternary logic as FALSE, NULL, TRUE as in three-valued logic.

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Article summary

Nullable types are a feature of some programming languages which allow a value to be set to the special value NULL instead of the usual possible values of the data type. In statically typed languages, a nullable type is an option type, while in dynamically typed languages (where values have types, but variables do not), equivalent behavior is provided by having a single null value. NULL is frequently used to represent a missing value or invalid value, such as from a function that failed to return or a missing field in a database, as in NULL in SQL. In other words, NULL is undefined. Primitive types such as integers and Booleans cannot generally be null, but the corresponding nullable types (nullable integer and nullable Boolean, respectively) can also assume the NULL value. This can be represented in ternary logic as FALSE, NULL, TRUE as in three-valued logic.

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Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.