On 7/23/07, Mark Waschkowski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi Alexandru, Quite obviously, the java language supports any object variables being set to null, and the some of the apis also supports setting of null values, for example: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/api/java/util/HashMap.html. The key is not removed, just the value.
I'm don't think you can compare the two, a HashMap is a completely different beast from a JCR. A HashMap imposes no restrictions on the data that can be stored inside it for one thing. What would you do with a mandatory property for example? Will you allow it to contain a null value? I think not because I would expect a mandatory property to hold a "real" value. But if it can't contain null isn't it in fact exactly the same as not having the property at all? By definition you'd have to extend this idea to non-mandatory properties as well because if we think the current situation (where setValue(null) is the same as a remove()) is confusing think about a system where mandatory and non-mandatory items have different semantics! Cheers, -Tako
