Nulls

The null value — an explicit absence of a value.

A null represents the absence of a value — data that is missing, unknown, or intentionally empty. Null is a scalar value with a compact and a verbose form.

Syntax

null        = compactNull | verboseNull
compactNull = "N"
verboseNull = "null"

Structural elements

Token	Name	Description
N	Compact null	null in compact form
null	Verbose null	the verbose null keyword

Valid forms

The compact and verbose forms are equivalent; the compact form is recommended for terse data.

---
N, null

Null versus empty

Null is the absence of a value, distinct from an empty string or an empty array:

N        # null — no value
""       # an empty string (a value)
[]       # an empty array (a value)

Not null

Null keywords are case-sensitive and spelled exactly. Any other token is not an error — it is parsed as an open string, so it is not null:

n                    # open string "n", not null
NULL                 # open string "NULL", not null
Null                 # open string "Null", not null
nil                  # open string "nil", not null
undefined            # open string "undefined", not null

To store one of these as text, that is exactly what happens. To express the absence of a value, write N or null.

See Also

• Value Representations — all value types

• Booleans — true and false

• Optional & nullable members — ? and * in schemas