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Use the null object in Python

Use the null object in Python

David Y.

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The Problem

How can I use null values in Python?

The Solution

None is Python’s equivalent of null. It is a singleton object of the class NoneType. It is universally available and cannot be reassigned. To test whether a variable is None, we should use Python’s is identity operator, as below:

Click to Copy
my_object = None
if my_object is None:
    print("It's null!")

Using is is preferable to using ==, as the latter can be overloaded, which may lead to unexpected behavior when used with certain objects.

None is falsy, which means that it will be considered equivalent to False when used in boolean expressions.

Click to Copy
if None:
    print("This line will never execute")
else:
    print("This line will always execute")
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