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Comments on What's the difference between null pointers and NULL?
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What's the difference between null pointers and NULL?
Someone told me that I shouldn't write "NULL pointer" with capital letters, because a null pointer and NULL are different terms. And that NULL is a "null pointer constant". What's the meaning of this?
Does this have anything to do with some systems allowing a different representation of the null pointer other than zero? Can NULL be something other than zero?
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In short, NULL is the 0 value, and a null pointer is a pointer variable that points to nothing.
some systems allowing a different representation of the null pointer other than zero
Years back compilers implemented some things on their own, partly because the language standards weren't strictly defined and imposed. For instance, I remember using a compiler that handled random related implementations in a different manner than other compilers. So, while some compilers defined their own null pointer implementation, NULL was always 0.
Can NULL be something other than zero?
No, I don't think so. However, you can tweak a compiler to replace instances of NULL with a value other than 0, but that wouldn't be a standard C compiler then.
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