Why is it called nillable?

Question

In an XML schema you can mark an element as nillable meaning it can take an explicit NULL value. See nillable and minOccurs XSD element attributes for a great explanation.

What I'm curious about is why is it called nillable? I always see nillable and think it's a typo!

EDIT I appreciate that nil is a synonym for null. What I'm wondering is why nil was chosen, rather than the more common (in computer science) null. Particularly as it should really be nilable (note the single L)!

aioobe · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-27T09:15:27.860

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What I'm wondering is why nil was chosen, rather than the more common (in computer science) null

This depends on which part of computer science you're coming from!

If you look at programs written in functional languages, you'll see nil every where, and very seldom null. And as it happens, XML and all it's siblings such as XSLT are closely related to functional languages.

edited Jan 27 '16 at 09:15

answered May 06 '11 at 15:04

aioobe

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Ah, so it's idiomatic to functional people? That makes sense. – RB. May 06 '11 at 20:24

score 14 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 21 '14 at 19:12

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Nil has the same language roots as null. Nil comes from the Latin for nihil which means "nothing". "Null", while related, comes from the Latin for "none" (literally 'ne-' meaning "not" and 'ullus' meaning "anything"). While they are similar in meaning, they have some slightly nuanced differences.

In practical usage, 'null' is far more common stateside while 'nil' is more common in Europe. Most people tend to use them interchangeably in software development terms but in language usage 'nil' is more common, in my experience.

answered Aug 21 '14 at 19:12

Chris Hansen

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I am a European and I didn't hear 'nil' from anyone – er-han Dec 26 '18 at 09:20
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I still consider Great Britain to be part of Europe: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/nil – Chris Hansen Feb 14 '19 at 19:34

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 21 '17 at 00:27

If memory serves, it's called "nillable" because (some of) the SQL people in the room became concerned about possible confusion between the relevant concept in XSD and the relevant concept in SQL. They threatened to lie down in the road to stop the proposal unless the name was changed. So the WG changed the name.

(On the orthographic question, I think nilable would invite pronunciation with a long 'i'; I believe that both American and British English regularly double final single consonants following a short stressed vowel. Cf. 'tag', 'tagging', 'tagged', 'taggable'.)

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered May 06 '11 at 14:58

It comes from nil which is another term for null, used in XML. I don't think that there is any specific reason the one the be preferred over the other in different programming languages. It is just an expression. It is used in some sports too, to express 0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nil

score -4 · Answer 5 · edited Mar 04 '14 at 12:13

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This term we are using XML WSDL. If nillable is true, then we can also use null value in parameter. I used this and it worked for me.

edited Mar 04 '14 at 12:13

felipe.zkn

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answered Mar 04 '14 at 11:54

Mian Anjum

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This is not what he asked for. – sunleo Jan 06 '17 at 06:12

Why is it called nillable?

5 Answers5

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