# Poll: nil or null? **URL:** \ **Category:** programming\ **Created:** [April 15, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/poll-nil-or-null/617025 "2015-04-15T00:11:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![krilnon](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/krilnon/32/34_2.png) [@krilnon](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/krilnon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/poll-nil-or-null/617025/1 "2015-04-15T00:11:34Z")
- `nil` - `null` You decide. ---
**Author:** ![krilnon](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/krilnon/32/34_2.png) [@krilnon](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/krilnon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 12:26am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/poll-nil-or-null/617025/2 "2015-04-17T00:26:09Z")
Huh, I guess I lose. ---
**Author:** ![senocular](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/senocular/32/7217_2.png) [@senocular](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/senocular)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/poll-nil-or-null/617025/3 "2015-04-17T20:42:10Z")
If you turn null upside down, you can still use the letters to spell null. Thats why I pick null. ---
**Author:** ![krilnon](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/krilnon/32/34_2.png) [@krilnon](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/krilnon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 9:07pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/poll-nil-or-null/617025/4 "2015-04-17T21:07:02Z")
I like nil because it’s shorter, and null reminds me of dull. Plus the extra L is kind of useless; just a linguistic remnant of something. Might as well call it nill. The null byte is named NUL various text encodings, although that ALL CAPS bothers me too. I certainly don’t like NULL in C. ---
**Author:** ![senocular](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/senocular/32/7217_2.png) [@senocular](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/senocular)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/poll-nil-or-null/617025/5 "2015-04-18T00:10:38Z")
Is there a language that uses `naught`? That would be my favorite language. ---
**Author:** ![linusj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@linusj](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/linusj)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 8:44am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/poll-nil-or-null/617025/6 "2015-04-18T08:44:52Z")
nil reminds me of that awkward backward language - objective c. Anyone using nil sound to me like a guy who drags up his latest iPhone to show his latest app. I can accept that, but I don’t like it. Null also is more closely to noll in swedish, which mean zero, so… ---
**Author:** ![krilnon](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/krilnon/32/34_2.png) [@krilnon](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/krilnon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/poll-nil-or-null/617025/7 "2015-04-18T18:42:39Z")
Ruby, Swift, and Go use `nil` too. And nil means zero in English… I mostly think of a British sportscaster when I think of saying nil aloud. > Is there a language that uses naught? That would be my favorite language. @senocular Not that I can think of. If there was, it’d probably be Prolog. ---
**Author:** ![senocular](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/senocular/32/7217_2.png) [@senocular](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/senocular)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 2:07am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/poll-nil-or-null/617025/8 "2015-04-19T02:07:23Z")
Objective c also has NULL. And Nil (not to be confused with nil). And of course my favorite, [NSNull null]. ---
**Author:** ![linusj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@linusj](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/linusj)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 8:05am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/poll-nil-or-null/617025/9 "2015-04-19T08:05:14Z")
True, british sportscasters do say _nil_. They also use _love_ in tennis with the same implication. Love is not a bad word. @senocular, hehe, there probably is one more null/nil in there somewhere. I found this german guy on google with the name “Xcode von NULL auf Hundert” - making Xcode tutorials. NULL of a hundred, would that mean anything in Objective c? ---
**Author:** ![TheCanadian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheCanadian](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/TheCanadian)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/poll-nil-or-null/617025/10 "2015-04-20T20:29:18Z")
If you turn nil upside down, you can use the letters to spell lu! I have yet to determine the significance of this. ---
**Author:** ![krilnon](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/krilnon/32/34_2.png) [@krilnon](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/krilnon)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/poll-nil-or-null/617025/11 "2015-04-21T01:12:47Z")
Holy cow, it’s Mandarin for zero! (actually it’s not…) ---
**Author:** ![linusj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@linusj](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/linusj)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/poll-nil-or-null/617025/12 "2015-04-21T19:37:44Z")
it is probably french, lu… read… (Lou Reed) But I’ve heard it in the meaning of toilet, the lu, luoe, loe… can’t find it. ahh it must be loo. The traceback of english language is embarrassingly simple. Sitting on the loo = I’m reading…