Are nil and null interchangeable? For example,
My bank a/c has a nil balance.
My bank a/c has a null balance.
asked Mar 16, 2012 at 7:48
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possible duplicate of Is there a real difference between "null" and "zero"? (as implied in the top answer there, nil equates to zero)– FumbleFingersMar 16, 2012 at 15:00
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What does "a/c" stand for in this context? Obviously not "air conditioning"...– MarthaªMar 16, 2012 at 15:46
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@Marthaª, a/c-->account– Vijin PaulrajMar 16, 2012 at 15:57
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@VijinPaulraj: really? Then why the slash? IME a slash is used in abbreviations to indicate separate words; it seems... misleading to use it between the first two letters of a word.– MarthaªMar 16, 2012 at 16:00
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2One must be careful with these terms in any sort of mathematical, computer programming, or physics context, as they tend to have specialized meanings.– Hot LicksJan 20, 2016 at 23:04
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5 Answers
NULL is used in computing most often (always?) to signify "not a value." This is different than zero: in a bank database, a zero value means no money, while a NULL value means there has been no value assigned to the balance.
This is a specialized usage, but increasingly common as more people learn to program.
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1I use the word null just about daily in computer programming. It is extremely common for anyone creating software. Sep 9, 2014 at 12:31
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6You forgot to add that 'null' and 'nil' are identical in programming; exact usage simply depends on which one a language has chosen to standardize on.– RonLuggeDec 14, 2014 at 5:04
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1If you're writing in C, NULL is interchangeable with the value 0, though this isn't recommended May 31, 2016 at 20:22
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2@dreadiscool it's not in general interchangeable. A conformant implementation may define it as
((void*)0)(which many do), which you then can't use in e.g. arithmetic:5*NULLwill give you a compilation error.– RuslanJul 9, 2017 at 9:29
Almost the only time you hear or see null is in the legal expression ‘null and void’, while nil normally indicates that a football team has scored no goals. If the bottom line of your bank statement shows neither a credit nor a debit, what you have is a zero balance.
answered Mar 16, 2012 at 8:02
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i dunno about other countries. But in India, here banks provide a special a/c i.e, no-frills a/c. and that is often called as null balance a/c, nil balance a/c, zero balance a/c. Mar 16, 2012 at 8:16
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3As a side note, nil is rarely used in the U.S. for sports scores; nothing is used far more often (or, in place of nothing, one might hear zero, or even zip). The one exception I hear is when ardent soccer fans are discussing a soccer match ("Spain beat Portugal 2-0," [pronounced "two-nil"]; but, "The Falcons beat the Seahawks 10-0," [pronounced "ten-nothing"]). As a side note to my side note, very ardent soccer fans will refer to soccer as "real football." :^)– J.R.Mar 16, 2012 at 8:32
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A good example then, @Vijin, of Indian English, but I don't quite understand how a bank can offer a zero balance account. The whole point of a bank account, surely, is either to have a plus or a minus balance. Mar 16, 2012 at 8:42
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@BarrieEngland, wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_no_frills_account the above mentioned a/c is called nil,null,zero balance a/c Mar 16, 2012 at 9:04
Null is also used in mathematics (a null set) and science (null hypothesis). I can't think of a time when nil is used in those areas.
Etymologically, null is from French, and nil is from Latin.
Nil means zero or nought
Null means nothing or empty
In everyday life, we tend to treat these terms as equivalent. But it is sometimes important to differentiate between them. (E.g. when working with SQL database data)
Null is also used in physics and electronics. Here's a description of a Null comparator using a Wheatstone bridge. Null tends to describe something with no net value, but possibly the sum of large values of opposing signs, while nil implies a value of 0.
answered Mar 16, 2012 at 19:41
