Wikipedia[1] has the refs: The null reference was invented by C.A.R. Hoare in 1965 as part of the Algol W language. Hoare later (2009) described his invention

Wikipedia[1] has the refs: The null reference was invented by C.A.R. Hoare in 1965 as part of the Algol W language. Hoare later (2009) described his invention as a "billion-dollar mistake":[10][11] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Null_pointer#Null_pointer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Null_pointer#Null_pointer Where: [10] http://qconlondon.com/london-2009/presentation/Null+References:+The+Billion+Dollar+Mistake http://qconlondon.com/london-2009/presentation/Null+Referenc... [11] http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Null-References-The-Billion-Dollar-Mistake-Tony-Hoare http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Null-References-The-Billi... Yes, the same video I linked above.