Meme transcription: Panel 1. Two images of JSON, one is the empty object, one is an object in which the key name maps to the value null. Caption: “Corporate needs you to find the difference between this picture and this picture”

Panel 2. The Java backend dev answers, “They’re the same picture.”

  • JackbyDevEnglish
    2•5 months ago

    Just what every programming language needs, not one, but two types of null! Because nobody ever said one type was difficult enough.

    If I see any of you make this distinction matter for anything other than “PUT vs. PATCH” semantics I’m going to be very angry.

    • @bleistift2@sopuli.xyzOPEnglish
      1•5 months ago

      I do this constantly. undefined: not retrieved yet. null: Error when retrieving. Makes it easy to reason about what the current state of the data is without the need for additional status flags.