I agree with Steve. "No apples" actually is "0 apples". Your analogy is a misunderstanding of null. Null is like you asking me how many apples Joe has. I say

I agree with Steve. "No apples" actually is "0 apples". Your analogy is a misunderstanding of null. Null is like you asking me how many apples Joe has. I say I don't know. If you write down 0, I'm going to stop you and say, "I didn't say zero, I said I don't know."