Exactly, NULL != NULL is surprising since pretty much every other language treats them equal and seems to serve no purpose other than being philosophically "rig

Exactly, NULL != NULL is surprising since pretty much every other language treats them equal and seems to serve no purpose other than being philosophically "right". Even SQL databases that adhere to ANSI NULLS must treat NULL==NULL sometimes (group by, order by) Obviously you need to compare nulls hence the crazy IS NOT DISTINCT FROM which is just another way of saying "equal" in English.