Difference between nil, NULL and Nil in iOS (2024)

In programming we need something to represent nothing.

They are all zero but they differ in their types.

NULL is a void *, nil is an id, and Nil is a Class pointer.

It means that nil is an empty value bound with an object (the id type in Objective-C).

Nil is used to represent a null pointer to an Objective-C class.

NULL is used to represent a null pointer to anything else.

Let’s see some basic examplestogetbetteridea:

NSString *nothing= nil;

NSURL *someURL = nil;

id someObject = nil;

if (anotherObject == nil) // do something

Nil is the literal null value for Objective-C classes, corresponding to the type Class.

Class someClass = Nil;

Class anotherClass = [NSString class];

NULL is the literal null value for arbitrary C pointers. For instance,

int *pointerToInt = NULL;

char *pointerToChar = NULL;

struct TreeNode *rootNode = NULL;

It is also important to note that nil in Swift is not the same as nil in Objective-C.

In Objective-C, nil is a pointer to a non-existent object. In Swift, nil is not a pointer but the absence of a value of a certain type. Optionals of any type can be set to nil, not just object types.

NULL and Nil have no equivalent in Swift.

I will add more examples and other significant differences to get more clarity if I get anything related to this.

Thanks for reading!!!

Difference between nil, NULL and Nil in iOS (2024)

FAQs

Difference between nil, NULL and Nil in iOS? ›

nul and null are two different things. null is a pointer to address 0, while nul is the name of the character with value 0. That distinction is sometimes elided (people often say "null-terminated" rather than "nul-terminated"), but that's the distinction the API names are based on.

What is the difference between null and Nul? ›

nul and null are two different things. null is a pointer to address 0, while nul is the name of the character with value 0. That distinction is sometimes elided (people often say "null-terminated" rather than "nul-terminated"), but that's the distinction the API names are based on.

What is the difference between nil and none? ›

The term nil sometimes refers to what's called the unit type - an empty tuple. None is one of values of the Option enum from the standard library, which is Rust's safe idiom for nullable types.…

Is nil the same as null Ruby? ›

Let's start out with “Nil” since it's the most common and easy-to-understand way of representing nothingness in Ruby. In terms of what it means, Nil is exactly the same thing as null in other languages. So, what is null? Null, as it exists in many languages, is a sort of value that represents “nothing”.

Which programming language uses nil instead of null? ›

Programming languages use different literals for the null pointer. In Python, for example, a null value is called None . In Pascal and Swift, a null pointer is called nil .

What is the difference between NULL and nil? ›

Nil is for object pointers, NULL is for non pointers, Null and Nil both defined to be equal to the value zero. NULL is a void *, nil is an id, and Nil is a Class pointer, NULL is used for non-object pointer (like a C pointer) in Objective-C. Like nil , NULL got no value nor address (used to check if a struct is empty).

What does NUL mean? ›

: not any : no.

What does NIL mean? ›

In the simplest of terms, Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) is a term that describes the means through which college athletes are allowed to receive financial compensation. NIL refers to the use of an athlete's name, image, and likeness through marketing and promotional endeavors.

Is null the same as None? ›

Python uses the keyword None to define null objects and variables. While None does serve some of the same purposes as null in other languages, it's another beast entirely. As the null in Python, None is not defined to be 0 or any other value. In Python, None is an object and a first-class citizen!

Does NIL mean empty? ›

In general use, nil (a contraction of Latin "nihil") means "nothing" or the absence of something. Sometimes nil is used to mean the number zero (0). In programming, nil refers to an empty set or a list containing no entries.

Why does go use nil instead of null? ›

nil is an identifier for the zero value in many of the language's types. It's reminiscent of null in other languages, but it would be a mistake to treat them the same way. nil is not null . In fact, sometimes nil isn't even nil .

Why is zero called null? ›

In mathematics, the word null (from German: null meaning "zero", which is from Latin: nullus meaning "none") is often associated with the concept of zero or the concept of nothing. It is used in varying context from "having zero members in a set" (e.g., null set) to "having a value of zero" (e.g., null vector).

What is null vs not null? ›

NOT NULL means a column to NOT accept NULL values. Null in other way means zero or empty value. Thus, Null means you can leave that field empty. And Not Null means you can't leave the value of that field empty.

What does nil mean in coding? ›

An explanation of nil

In Emacs Lisp, the symbol nil has two meanings. First, it means the empty list. Second, it means false and is the value returned when a true-or-false-test tests false. nil can be written as an empty list, () , or as nil .

Is null or nil in Python? ›

Strictly speaking python's "None" is basically equivalent to "null" in Java is equivalent to "undefined"/"null" in JS. That one is equivalent to nim's "nil". That type you will only get if you deal with ref-types, aka when you declare your type like so: type A = ref object ...

Which language has nil? ›

Swift uses nil because Objective-C uses nil. Objective-C uses nil because Smalltalk uses nil. And Smalltalk uses nil because most languages that don't descend from C use nil, all the way back to Lisp.

What does NUL mean in coding? ›

It is often abbreviated as NUL (or NULL, though in some contexts that term is used for the null pointer). In 8-bit codes, it is known as a null byte. The original meaning of this character was like NOP—when sent to a printer or a terminal, it has no effect (some terminals, however, incorrectly display it as space).

Is NULL and NULL same? ›

It's important to note, that NULL doesn't equal NULL. NULL is not a value, and therefore cannot be compared to another value. where x is null checks whether x is a null value.

When should I use NULL? ›

A: Although they may seem similar and are sometimes used interchangeably, it's generally better to use them for their intended purposes. Use null when you want to represent the intentional absence of a value, and undefined when a variable has not been assigned a value.

What is the difference between NULL is NULL and not NULL? ›

The IS NULL condition is satisfied if the column contains a null value or if the expression cannot be evaluated because it contains one or more null values. If you use the IS NOT NULL operator, the condition is satisfied when the operand is column value that is not null, or an expression that does not evaluate to null.

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