> NIL is better than NULL, but not by much. NIL is probably the best you can get once you realize that the empty state is unavoidable. My personal problem wit

> NIL is better than NULL, but not by much. NIL is probably the best you can get once you realize that the empty state is unavoidable. My personal problem with this kind of rant is that is full of hate but lacking in general in alternatives to represent an empty state. The author mention optional types as an alternative. That's fine for parameters but that doesn't cover when you need to have an empty reference.