> Go does not allow many basic types, such as strings or booleans, to be nil. Instead, when a type is initialized without a value, it defaults to the “zero value” for that type. This is frequently useful, but complicates database interactions, where null values are common.
This sounds like they weren't defining their types properly.
If your value can potentially be null, it should be a pointer to the type, not the type itself. A string can't be null, but a pointer to a string can.
(In fact, there's no magic going on here - 'nil' is simply the zero value of a pointer. So you always get the zero value - you just need to choose the type that has the zero value you want... which is, in this case, a pointer, not a value).
As explained well in this thread[0], this is the most accurate representation of the data itself. You could create your own type that automatically decodes all null values to whatever the zero value is (empty string, etc)., but then you lose that information.
Yes, this forces you to do a check for the null value before using the data for the first time (or to invent your own monad for abstracting this), but at a high level, that's what you have to do in every language.
[0] https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/golang-nu...
This sounds like they weren't defining their types properly.
If your value can potentially be null, it should be a pointer to the type, not the type itself. A string can't be null, but a pointer to a string can.
(In fact, there's no magic going on here - 'nil' is simply the zero value of a pointer. So you always get the zero value - you just need to choose the type that has the zero value you want... which is, in this case, a pointer, not a value).
As explained well in this thread[0], this is the most accurate representation of the data itself. You could create your own type that automatically decodes all null values to whatever the zero value is (empty string, etc)., but then you lose that information.
Yes, this forces you to do a check for the null value before using the data for the first time (or to invent your own monad for abstracting this), but at a high level, that's what you have to do in every language.
[0] https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/golang-nu...