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From: schouten@uicsrd.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: NULL, zero, and readable code
Message-ID: <44200004@uicsrd>
Date: Wed, 8-Jul-87 14:37:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: uicsrd.44200004
Posted: Wed Jul  8 14:37:00 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 12-Jul-87 11:09:47 EDT
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Nf-From: uicsrd.cs.uiuc.edu!schouten    Jul  8 13:37:00 1987



In article <1219@ius2.cs.cmu.edu> edw@ius2.cs.cmu.edu (Eddie Wyatt) writes:
-... use NULL instead of 0 because there are those implements of C
-(which are wrongly implemented) that don't treat 0 the way they should.
			.
			.
			.
/* Written  1:29 am  Jul  6, 1987 by bdm-thad@Walker-EMH.arpa in uicsrd:comp.lang.c */
/* ---------- "NULL, zero, and readable code" ---------- */

Re: NULL vs. zero and readable code
 
I think the problem here is the definition of NULL.  NULL is not, repeat,
NOT, equal to zero, at least the base ten zero.  If I recall my high
school math, zero is a number, the crossover between positive and nega-
tive.  NULL, on the other hand, is the absence of any number.
			.
			.
			.
DISCLAIMER:  I'm just a Poli Sci major.
/* End of text from uicsrd:comp.lang.c */

I must have missed something, cuz I can't seem to find the root of this discussion,
Sounds entertaining though. ("I'm just a Poli Sci major" is the most appropriate
disclaimer I've heard)
But I feel obligated to encourage the use of NULL over 0.
Irregardless of style questions (or "theoretial" discussions), I
have worked on systems where NULL was != 0, because 0 was a
valid address.  It's incredibly annoying to have to search for all
occurrences of 0 that are intended as a NULL pointer value.

Dale A. Schouten
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