The "N" word

[Andrew Scott]

It seems as though we go through a series of explanations about the use of
NULL in C every couple of months ago.   Clearly, it is a confusing concept
to beginners learning the language.

Why is this?  Is it because C uses the token "0" to represent the null
pointer, and people find it awkward to associate something that looks like
an integer with what is intended to be an address?

Did the ANSI C folks consider adding a `nil' keyword to the language?  I
realize that it's far too late now; I'm just curious as to whether or not
the idea was proposed at all.
-- 
Andrew Scott		andrew at teletron.uucp    - or -
			{codas, ubc-cs, watmath, ..}!alberta!teletron!andrew