The existence of a null value isn't a billion dollar mistake. The issue is when static type systems allow null anywhere.
Even some dynamic languages don't have a null value. For example, some lisps only have the empty list, which they use as a null-like value by convention.
miniblog.
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I'm beginning to think this last sentence was a mistake. Lots of software fixes crashes in new versions.
Perhaps I should have a "N releases since last fix for a crash" count?
@rocx If it's built in to the language and pervasively used, I'd consider Optional<T> to include the null value. However, optional types prevent the mistake, since the compiler checks ☺️
When I look at tools like Tor and other strong anonymity tools, the complexity is daunting. Only one mistake and suddenly you've outed yourself.
I used to suspect that strong anonymity is essentially impossible, but
Satoshi Nakamoto has demonstrated otherwise. Remarkable.