Null Safety

Definitions

1. A type system feature that distinguishes nullable from non-nullable types at compile time, preventing null reference exceptions — the 'billion-dollar mistake' — by design.

   In plain English: A language feature that forces you to handle the possibility of missing values, preventing crashes from trying to use something that doesn't exist.

   Example: "Kotlin's null safety means you literally cannot call a method on null without the compiler yelling at you."

Related Terms

• Canary Deployment
• Nullable
• Option Type
• Sealed Class
• Static Typing
• Strong Typing
• Type System
• Union Type
• Phantom Type