alamb opened a new pull request, #4838: URL: https://github.com/apache/arrow-rs/pull/4838
# Which issue does this PR close? Closes https://github.com/apache/arrow-rs/issues/4835 # Rationale for this change The fact that `NullArray::is_null()` returns false is both consistent with the technical definition of physical/logical nulls, but also deeply confusing to a casual user, as explained on https://github.com/apache/arrow-rs/issues/4835 I don't think the implications of logical vs physical nullability are well understood by the arrow user community (and to be honest I am not sure they should in most cases). Thus helping them find the right API for what they want to do would be incel # What changes are included in this PR? 1. Update doc comments to explicitly mention the `NullArray` case (the one where I think it is the most deeply confusing, even though this does potentially apply to `DictionaryArray` and `RunArray` 2. Add an `Array::is_logical_null` that returns the the logical nullability (mostly as a way to document the behavior and save downstream crates from having to handle `NullArray` specially) # Are there any user-facing changes? New function and improved documentation # Questions 1. What are your opinions on `Array::is_logical_null` 2. Should I add an equivalent of `Array::is_logical_valid` to mirror `Array::is_valid` ? -- This is an automated message from the Apache Git Service. To respond to the message, please log on to GitHub and use the URL above to go to the specific comment. To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For queries about this service, please contact Infrastructure at: [email protected]
