The philosophy of Nothing

[Paul Benedict]

Yes, I understand that the the empty set is a subset of any other set.
I looked it up just to refresh myself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empty_set

But what does an "empty set" (not java.uitl.Set) mean to Java? I
perceive "Nothing" as pure .. well, nothingness. I liken such a type
to be like NULL in SQL which has no equality -- even to itself.

So I have a difficult time accepting that nothing is somehow the set
of, or even the type of, something else.

Paul


On Sun, Nov 29, 2009 at 2:41 PM, Dimitris Andreou <jim.andreou at gmail.com> wrote:
> But you *do* understand that the empty set is a subset of any other set, right?
>
> 2009/11/29 Paul Benedict <pbenedict at apache.org>:
>> Yes, I do have it flipped around. Thank you. I shouldn't enjoy making
>> big blunders in public so much. :-)
>>
>> So let me ask the opposite:
>> How can nothing be a type of something?
>>
>> Paul
>>
>> On Sun, Nov 29, 2009 at 2:26 PM, Reinier Zwitserloot
>> <reinier at zwitserloot.com> wrote:
>>> You've got it flipped around.
>>> Nothing is a subtype of Object. (and of String, and of Number, and of
>>> Integer, etc).
>>> --Reinier Zwitserloot
>>
>