I agree, it seems I wasn't clear. The values false, zero, or empty string are "valid" in most contexts. But in go, using the stdlib json package, it is not poss

I agree, it seems I wasn't clear. The values false, zero, or empty string are "valid" in most contexts. But in go, using the stdlib json package, it is not possible to distinguish a missing value from the zero value. You can use pointers in some cases, but then everything becomes a full-blown pointer for the lack of an Option<T> type, and it still doesn't fully solve the problem. When parsing "enums" in go, which are really just a type alias and some loose constants, again it's not possible to prevent zero values sneaking in with the stdlib json package. E.g. you get a value of the correct type, but it's not one of your consts, but equivalent to a new value `YourType("")`. Thus, a lot of validation is necessary, between parsing and using values.